Rory and Logan, an Arranged Relationship
by lgar
Summary: AU - The natural course of Logan and Rory's relationship is altered when their families decide that a relationship between the two families would be mutually beneficial.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own any of this. I hope you enjoy.**

Rory clung tightly to her father's waist, feeling a little ridiculous. She could feel the ends of her carefully curled hair whipping frantically in the wind where it had slipped out from under her father's extra helmet. A portion of her skirt was also billowing behind her, even though she was sure that she had securely tucked it under her thighs. She was worried that it would get caught in the back wheel of Christopher's Indian motorcycle. At any rate, she was sure that it would look a little worse for the wear by the time she reached her grandparents' house. She had barely suppressed an eye roll when her father had shown up on his big bike to take her to a semi-formal dinner at his parents' house. Apparently his need to rebel had only lessened slightly since he had fled to California after his graduation from Princeton.

She knew, intellectually, that she should be a lot more anxious about her upcoming meeting with Straub and Francine. However, after the tumultuous life she had been leading since the end of her freshman year at Yale, she was feeling numb. She couldn't muster the energy to care that she was supposed to make nice with the same people who, the last time she had seen them shortly after her sixteenth birthday, had basically told her she had been a mistake and everyone's life would have been better off without her. The dinner was just another uncomfortable society hoop, in a long line of uncomfortable society hoops, that she was forced to jump through to make sure that she wasn't disappointing anyone. It was exhausting, making sure that her Mother was happy, her Father was happy, her grandparents were happy…that she _never_ let _anyone_ see her doing _anything_ that could be construed as falling outside the bounds of acceptable behavior. She just wanted to get this over with so she could go back to her dorm, change into her sweats and burrow under her comforter. She was even beyond movie marathon wallowing at this point.

The major stresses that had led her to this point had really started her freshman year at Yale. Being apart from her mother for the first time had illuminated how much she had relied on her. Lorelai was everything to her; her best friend, her confidant, her mother and father, and her guidepost. Without her, Rory had floundered socially. She had trouble making any close friends and she was appalled at how awkward she was around the opposite sex. She had never realized before how isolated she was. Instead of resenting Lorelai for never letting her develop her missing social skills, she fled to the safety of the familiar and spent as much time as she could in Stars Hollow. Academically, she had also struggled. Of course, her grades were stellar but she had been forced to drop a class during her second semester. The thought of failing to live up to everyone's expectations, on top of her crushing loneliness, had made it feel like all of the air was being sucked out of her chest.

All of the pressure had built up until she found herself having a full-blown panic attack in the arms of her very married, very ex-boyfriend, Dean. Dean had been the impetus of her next wave of problems. After providing her with comfort that she realized she probably shouldn't have sought from him, Dean had started following her around town, stealing private moments with her. It had all felt so familiar and so good to have him following her around, knowing that he thought she was perfect, that Rory hadn't discouraged Dean as much as she should have. The "Dean Situation", as she referred to it in her head, had culminated in Dean following Rory to her house during the test run of the Dragonfly Inn. Rory was still overcome with guilt every time she thought about what she was about to do when Lorelei had burst through the front door in a frantic ball of energy. She had been two thin layers of cotton away from losing her virginity to Dean and becoming the other woman.

_ Dean's mouth was hot and wet on Rory's left nipple as his hand scrambled at the waistband of her panties. _

_ "Dean…Dean, please…" Rory whispered as her eyes fluttered closed. She placed her hand on his, trying to still it. She was trying desperately to think clearly through the cloud of lust that Dean was creating. She had been topless with Jess before, but he had never elicited this kind of feeling from her. Dean's tongue flicked over the peak of her nipple, causing her breath to hitch._

_ "Dean, I'm not sure we should…" she trailed off again as he bit down gently. Her body was flying and she wanted to let Dean pull of her panties down. She _wanted_ to _finally_ lose her virginity and figure out what the big secret was. She had been ready with Jess but he had left before she had gotten the chance to get that far. She had been ready pretty much for the past year but she had barely even been on a date, much less gotten to the point with someone where she would be comfortable enough to have sex. _

_Dean, though, was comfortable and familiar. She wanted desperately to give in to this. Two small points, however, where holding her back. One, she couldn't stop the image of Lindsay, Dean's wife, from flashing through her mind. Two, Rory felt like she had gone from standing across the room from Dean, fully dressed, to almost naked in two seconds flat. Everything was moving too fast and she felt completely out of control. She always imagined that Dean would be a gentle lover but his actions seemed frenzied and a little bit desperate._

"_Rory…God, I've wanted you for so long," Dean moaned as he managed to inch Rory's panties a little lower on her hip. He pushed her toward the bed until she stumbled and flopped ungracefully onto the mattress. He placed a knee on the bed beside Rory and pushed her onto the mattress while crushing his mouth to hers in a bruising kiss._

_Rory turned her head, "Dean, please. I think we need to slow down." Rory tried to push Dean's shoulder, but she wasn't strong enough to gain any leverage._

"_No, Rory. I don't want to wait for you any more," he moved his mouth to Rory's neck. His left hand was securely holding her right shoulder to the bed as his right hand continued to try to pull Rory's panties down while Rory tried to stop his progress. Rory was starting to panic just a little. She was quickly losing any semblance of control over the situation and Rory did not do well when she felt out of control._

"_What about Lindsay? You have a wife, Dean." Rory's voice was starting rise and her breath was getting shorter as she felt panic start to overwhelm her._

_Hearing Rory's words, Dean pulled back sharply. Rory was shocked at the anger she saw in Dean's eyes._

"_What did you think we were going to be doing here, Rory?" Dean asked sharply. "If you were so worried about Lindsay, you shouldn't have come to me when you needed help. Hell, you definitely shouldn't have let me in your bedroom." _

_Rory felt tears welling in her eyes as her panic kicked up a notch. She had only seen Dean mad a couple of times but she had never seen him with so much malice in his eyes, and definitely not directed towards her._

"_I'm so fucking tired of your little act, Rory. I know you want this as much as I do. You've been all over me for the last couple of months and I'm just here to take what you've been trying to give me." Dean finally tired of his struggles with Rory's underwear so he grabbed a fist full of cotton and yanked. Rory gasped as she felt the fabric cut into her flesh and heard several stitches pop._

"_Dean, please stop," Rory's voice had reached the register of a whine and tears were now falling down her face. Dean yanked once more and painfully ripped her remaining clothing away from her body._

"_I'm giving up everything for you, Rory," Dean growled at her, his nose almost touching hers. "The least you can do is open your goddamn legs." _

"_Dean, no," Rory commanded as forcefully as she could. She began to scramble in earnest, trying to climb away from Dean and off the bed. Any arousal she had felt was now completely overtaken by panic and a strong desire to make this situation go away. She could no longer see in Dean the sweet boyfriend she had dated at sixteen, but only the man who was filled with anger and resentment about how his life had turned out and her part in it. _

_Just as Dean's hand clamped onto Rory's upper arm to push her more firmly into the bed, the front door of the house burst open and Lorelai's voice could be heard calling for Rory. Dean's head snapped up and he loosened his grip on Rory slightly. Rory used the advantage to forcefully push Dean off of her. She scrambled for her dress and pulled it over her head and pulled open her bedroom door, wiping tears off of her cheeks. She was so relieved to get away from Dean that it never crossed her mind that her mother would take one look at her appearance, coupled with Dean slinking out the back door, and go supernova over the situation._

_Rory stood awkwardly in the kitchen, frozen in a staring contest with her mother. Dean silently exited through the back door buttoning his jeans and carrying his shirt. He carefully avoided making eye contact with Lorelai. _

"_Mom," Rory started uncertainly._

"_Rory, what the hell are you thinking?" Lorelei cut her off. "Did you…did you just have sex with Dean?" She paused for a second before continuing without allowing Rory more than a chance to draw in a breath to speak._

"_How could you be so stupid, Rory? How many times have I told you that sex is not something to enter into without serious thought? You and Dean aren't even dating!" Lorelai's hand gestures were becoming more emphatic and her voice had risen steadily in volume._

"_He's _married_, Rory! What's the matter with you?" she continued relentlessly, ignoring the tears spilling down her daughter's cheeks._

"_Mom," Rory practically shouted, trying to be heard over Lorelai's rant. "Dean and I did not sleep together!" Lorelai closed her eyes, thankful for Rory's denial, but not completely convinced._

"_Then why was Dean half naked? Why do you have sex hair?" Lorelai continued in an accusing voice._

"_I'm not going to lie, Mom. We were definitely heading that way, but I stopped it because he's married and I just couldn't do it." Rory left out how the encounter had really ended, unsure of how her Mother would react._

_Lorelai's mouth was pressed into a thin line as she nodded her head once and stared at Rory._

"_So, if he wasn't married, what? You would have just jumped into bed with him?" Lorelei demanded._

"_So what if I would have, Mom?" Rory asked, a little defensive now. "What would have been so wrong with having sex with Dean if he weren't married?" She tried to wipe some of the tears from her face, hating that she was crying while her anger was starting to rise._

"_You're not in a relationship with Dean! Even if you were, I think you're too young, too immature to be having sex! I'm not ready for you to have sex!" Rory could tell that the last part of her mother's rant had slipped out accidentally. Lorelai's reaction to the boys in Rory's life had always been negative and had always been over the top. Lorelai had always tried to weakly justify her reactions but it was starting to dawn on Rory that Lorelei's adamancy that Rory keep her distance from any boy she was dating had more to do with Lorelai's past than anything Rory or her boyfriends had done._

"_I'm not sixteen anymore, Mom! I'm not going to stay a virgin forever!" Rory screamed. The residual effects of her panic were mixing with her anger at being attacked by her mother, making it impossible for her to speak rationally to Lorelai. _

"_You say you want me to talk to you about everything, to talk to you before I think I want to have sex, but you act like its this horrible thing every time I bring it up. What's so bad about sex? You _love_ sex! You had me when you were sixteen so you were obviously having sex at some point prior to that! I'm nineteen! I want to grow up, already. What's wrong with that?" Rory finished her rant more quietly than she had begun. She loved her mother and desperately wanted her approval. She just didn't know how to deal with this particular facet of their relationship._

"_Yes, Rory. I was obviously having sex at a very young age. But I made mistakes. I don't want that for you! I don't want you to ruin your life!" Lorelei shouted, emotion making her voice crack. As soon as she had uttered the words, Lorelai took a step back and put a hand over her mouth, shocked at what she had just said._

_Rory broke eye contact with her mother and swallowed hard. "So, I'm a mistake? I ruined your life? Is that how you feel?" Rory asked quietly without ever looking back at Lorelai._

"_Oh, honey, no," Lorelai whispered as she took a couple of steps forward and tried to reach out to touch Rory._

_Rory stepped out of Lorelai's reach and finally lifted her head to glare at her mother, the hurt evident. She locked eyes with Lorelei for a second before she stepped back into her room and slammed the door. Lorelei heard the lock snap into place a moment later._

"_Rory, honey, please. That's not what I meant. Please come out!" Lorelai desperately pleaded as she slapped the door with an open hand. "Please! You're the best thing in my life, you _know_ I didn't mean that." She slipped to the floor as she listened to her daughter's gut wrenching sobs._

The next day the atmosphere between mother and daughter had been more than a little chilly. Lorelai desperately wanted to patch things up with Rory but she wanted even more to keep Rory away from making any life altering decisions with regard to Dean. She effectively shipped Rory off to Europe with Emily for the rest of the summer, ensuring that Rory would be far, far away from temptation until it was time to go back to Yale. The distance had made it more difficult for mother and daughter to go back to a normal relationship and, when Rory returned, things had still been strained. Rory couldn't help the hurt she felt at Lorelai's words and Lorelai was still angry that Rory seemed to be ignoring her warnings when it came to boys and sex. So, Rory had gone back for her second year at Yale missing the security of the one relationship she had always been able to count on.

While Rory was in Europe, she had been almost successful in blocking out what had happened with Dean. Her situation with Lorelai had been so much on her mind that she almost didn't think about Dean at all. She acknowledged that she had almost slept with him and she felt inordinately guilty about that fact. However, unable to reconcile her sweet, perfect first boyfriend with the angry, borderline violent man he had turned into, her memory had started to blur a little regarding the end of her encounter. She had begun to tell herself that she was sure that she had been mistaken about Dean's intentions. By the time she returned home from Europe she had convinced herself that everything with Dean was a misunderstanding that she could put behind her.

That fiction was shattered the first time she ran into Dean. He had informed her that he had left Lindsay so that they could be together. He had then yelled at her for ditching him and running away to Europe. She had, once again, been shocked by the level of rage he threw at her. She was also mortified that he had chosen to play out this confrontation in the middle of the town square. She had tried to walk away from him, as much to hide from her neighbors' curiosity as to end the confrontation. He had grabbed her arm and yanked her back to him. It had only taken him a second to realize that he had taken the confrontation too far. Rory had been so shocked by his revelations and his actions that she didn't even register how hard he had gripped her arm until she discovered the dark purple bruises blooming over her bicep.

She had hidden the bruises from Lorelai and played down the confrontation between she and Dean, sure that once she was firmly ensconced at Yale her problems with Dean would disappear. She was wrong. Dean had started showing up around campus at sporadic intervals. He didn't show up often and, thankfully, he didn't have access to her dorm but Rory still feared that he was going to jump out of the shadows at any moment. During their brief encounters, he had made it clear that he blamed Rory for the shit hole his life had become, for his divorce and for his financial problems. He also made it clear that the only way she could possibly make it up to him was to finish what she had started and be with him.

Sometimes she felt like she was going crazy because Dean hid himself so well and he never approached her while other people were around. If she needed witnesses, she doubted she would be able to find anyone who had actually seen them together. The only physical proof she had of his harassment was the bruises his grasping hands left on her when she accidentally let him get too close. She was dealing as best she could with the situation, living her life like Dean didn't exist, but there was always a niggling fear in the back of her mind that he would catch up with her one day when she wouldn't be able to run away. She had no idea how far Dean was willing to take his vendetta against her.

On top of the "Dean Situation", she had also been blindsided by her mother's relationship with Christopher. After Sherry had turned out to be pregnant, Rory was pretty sure that Christopher had used up all of his chances with Lorelai. He had played around with her heart and crushed her one too many times for Lorelai to ever take him back. Rory had once again been wrong. Even though Rory had maintained radio silence with her father, apparently Lorelai and Christopher had been in touch ever since Sherry had lost the baby and decided to break things off. Knowing how angry Rory was with her father, Lorelai and Christopher had kept their relationship relatively under wraps. They had decided to make their relationship public after Luke had tried to kiss Lorelai and she had had to explain to him that she was seeing someone else.

Chris and Lorelai had been dating for a little more than two years and Rory was just informed about it when she returned from Europe. She was furious with Christopher because, even though he had been on good terms with Lorelai, he had had almost no contact with Rory. She was also terrified that he was going to leave Lorelai like he had done so many times before and she would be the one left to pick up the pieces of Lorelai's heart. She didn't know if she was going to be up for the job this time since her relationship with Lorelai was so strained and she was dealing with the stress of the "Dean Situation" pretty much on her own. She had just been settling into the idea of her parents seriously dating when Christopher showed up on campus a week ago to drop another round of surprises on her.

_Christopher had shown up at her door early on a Tuesday. She had opened the door expecting, hoping for someone else. She knew that she hadn't hidden her disappointment well._

"_Hey, kiddo," Christopher smiled widely, bouncing a little with nerves. "Sorry for just showing up like this without any warning, but I was wondering if I could take you to breakfast?"_

"_I already ate," she looked down at her feet, avoiding Chris' hopeful eyes. Rory had been civil to her father since coming back to Europe but things were still a little chilly. _

"_Coffee then?"_

_Rory held up her travel mug, "I already have coffee." She paused awkwardly for a moment, not wanting to disappoint her father any more, but really needing to leave. "Dad, I actually have to go to class. So…um…"_

"_Right, right…you actually go to your early classes. That makes sense," he quickly agreed, looking a little sheepish. "I guess if I had gone to my early classes it wouldn't have taken my an extra year to graduate from Princeton."_

_Rory gave her dad a disbelieving look, "I really have to go, Dad." She refrained from rolling her eyes until she had stepped past him. It amazed her that he could casually refer to his irresponsible college days, completely ignoring that he had neglected almost all of his fatherly duties during that time._

_Chris had caught up to her again that afternoon in between classes. It was freezing and she had no desire to hang out in the quad talking to her father. Still, she couldn't exactly run away from him either._

"_Here, I got you some coffee," Christopher said, shoving a lukewarm cup into her hand. She took it, impatiently, along with the fistful of sugar and creamer that he dug out of his pocket. "I didn't know how you take it."_

"_Thanks, Dad, but I really have to get to class." Rory shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking past her father to her destination._

"_Rory, please. I need to talk to you and I've been waiting out here in the freezing cold for an hour." His usually easygoing demeanor had taken on the slight edge of annoyance. "I know that I haven't been your favorite person lately, but I need you to get over that for a second."_

"_Fine, Dad. What do you need to tell me?"_

_Christopher took a deep, fortifying breath and looked into Rory's eyes, "Rory, your mom and I are getting married…we're engaged." He held his breath, waiting for Rory's response. Rory looked at her father for a stunned moment. She had heard him, but she was having trouble processing what he had said. Her mother and her father were getting married, about three years after she had completely given up hope that it would happen._

"_What? When did this happen? Why didn't Mom call me?" Rory shot off quickly after she regained her voice. Tears sprang to her eyes at the realization that her mother had failed to share this momentous news with her but she stubbornly blinked them back._

_Chris grabbed her arms and ducked his head so that he could look into her eyes. "Rory…don't be mad at your mom, ok? This is a good thing, your mom and me. This has been a long time coming and it's a good thing." Rory nodded her head, acknowledging what he had said. "I came to talk to you because Lorelai is making herself sick, worrying that you're not going to be ok with this. I need you to be ok with this and I need you to suck it up and be nice to your mom, ok?"_

_Rory nodded her head again, looking down and sniffing a little. "I know, Dad. I know it's a good thing. I just…I just wanted this for so long and I had kind of given up hope…I just…I'm sorry. Of course, I'm happy for you."_

_Christopher rested his forehead against hers, "Thanks, kid. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry that I couldn't make this happen any sooner. I'm sorry that I wasn't around more while you were growing up. I promise I'm going to do whatever I can to make this a good thing for you, ok?" Rory nodded her head again and Christopher drew her into a tight hug._

_Christopher pulled back, still keeping a grip on Rory's arms. "Ok, kid. There's just one more thing I have to talk to you about." He waited until she was looking at him again. "I talked to my parents about marrying your mom and we all agreed that this is going to change the situation a little bit."_

_Rory quickly looked around to see if anyone was listening to them, remembering for the first time that the exact nature of her relationship with Christopher was not supposed to be public knowledge. For a second she thought she caught a glimpse of tousled blonde hair, but dismissed it when she couldn't spot it again. She looked back at her father uncertainly._

"_What do you mean, change our situation? I thought that we were all very happy with the arrangement that they don't acknowledge me and I never have to talk to them again."_

"_Well, what am I supposed to do when Lorelai and I get married? Pretend that you're my step daughter?" Chris laughed a little. "That's not going to work, kid. And I don't want that. I'm tired of pretending like I don't have a daughter…of not being able to pal around with you, attend your graduation, help you move into your dorm. It sucks, kid."_

"_So, what? I'm all of a sudden supposed to start going by Hayden?" Rory asked, her agitation growing. "Am I supposed to act like we've always been one big happy family and Straub and Francine have been doting grandparents? I don't think _that's_ going to work."_

"_Rory, I need you to calm down," Christopher chastised, glancing around to see if they were drawing attention. "Of course it's not going to be that easy. I don't know exactly how we're going to approach this, but Dad seems to have some ideas. Something about wanting to keep you out of the public eye because Lorelai and I were so young and because there would be so much attention on you, being a Hayden and a Gilmore, and Dad just taking the bench at the Supreme Court." He was talking in hurried whispers now. They were broaching a subject that was taboo. _

_Rory had always been forbidden to reveal her paternity. As far as anyone knew, she was completely oblivious as to the identity of her father. From a young age Rory had been reminded repeatedly that she could be taken away from her mother if she were to tell anyone that Christopher was her father. She didn't know the details of the arrangement between Lorelai and Christopher's parents or what part Christopher had in it. All she knew was that whenever the subject of her father came up, she still felt like the pit of her stomach had been hallowed out as her mouth went dry with fear. Her mother had done a very good job of making sure that she _never_ let it slip that she was also a Hayden._

"_They want you to come to dinner this Saturday so they can get to know you a little bit better and we can figure out how we're going to work this," Christopher was still speaking quietly, trying to soften the unpleasantness of his request._

_Rory immediately began shaking her head in denial, "Oh no. There is no way you're going to get me to have dinner with those people. They hate me." Rory could still feel the shame and hurt that she had experienced during the last meeting with Straub and Francine. Francine had sat quietly by while Straub had basically said that Rory was a waste of a good abortion._

"_Rory, please," he was starting to sound exasperated that he was having such a difficult time getting Rory to see reason. "In order for me and Lorelai to get married, we have to figure out how to make it public that we already have a daughter together. This is going to be tricky since my parents have made sure that no one has any idea that you have any connection to the Hayden's. We need to figure this out with Straub and Francine and the fastest way to do that is to go to dinner, clear the air, and figure out a plan." _

_Christopher paused again, letting his words sink in before he went for the kill. "Rory, I want to marry Lorelai and she wants to marry me. If we can't figure this out with my parents, it's gong to crush her. Please…do this for your mother."_

_Rory nodded without looking at her father, "Fine, what time are you picking me up?" She hated that he had the ability to make her feel like she was some kind of hindrance, always keeping her parents apart in one way or another._

She and Christopher had finalized their plans and quickly left each other, both seeking heat after their extended conversation in the cold. So she was currently sitting on the back of her father's motorcycle, going to see two of her least favorite people in the world. Still, she couldn't seem to get her mind off of the one person who had been making her semester at least a little tolerable. Until recently, that is. What was really distracting her from the full anxiety about her upcoming meeting was Logan Huntzberger's abrupt absence from her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Rory rested her head against her father's shoulder, trying to ignore the buffeting of the wind against her helmet. She was freezing, her legs only being covered by sheer tights and high heel shoes. Christopher had brought an extra leather jacket for her to wear over her dress but she was still extremely cold and uncomfortable. She still had no idea what made her father think that it was a good idea to ride almost an hour, from New Haven to Hartford, on a motorcycle in late November. It seemed more than a little ludicrous. Rory closed her eyes and tried to block out the feeling of the icy wind whipping against her legs.

Within a few moments, Rory's mind was firmly ensconced in the subject of Logan, as it had been often, as of late. They're relationship had been like nothing she had ever experienced before, and she was glad for that. She had relished his attention and been happy that he hadn't been demanding or seemingly interested in possessing her or claiming her. To her, it seemed that he was exactly what she needed to counteract the possessiveness and almost violent jealousy she had been dealing with from Dean.

She still remembered that she initially hadn't liked Logan. She had been irritated at how he had treated Marty, one of the few friends that she had managed to make during her freshman year at Yale. Then she had engaged in a lively debate with him while she was putting up posters of Professor Flemming for Paris. Although she had still been irritated with him, she had admitted to herself that she had enjoyed having someone to spar with who could actually keep up with her. She grudgingly even admitted, only to herself of course, that he may have even bested her on a couple of points.

She had been surprised when he showed up at the newsroom and not exactly surprised when Doyle filled her in on Logan's playboy ways. As she had thought, Logan was exactly the type of boy that Lorelai had tried to protect her from. It wasn't until she found out that Logan was a member of the Life and Death Brigade and she had twisted his arm until he took her along on an outing for one of her articles that they had really connected.

_Rory stepped out of her tent to find Logan waiting for her in a tux. She was still wearing the turtleneck sweater and jeans that she had been wearing since she had been "kidnapped" from campus. _

"_Ace, you better get ready. The festivities start in about fifteen minutes," Logan stated, eyeing Rory's outfit._

"_I am ready," Rory said a little uncertainly, looking down to see if she had somehow left off an important piece of clothing._

"_No, I don't think so. That outfit interferes with the integrity of the event, and you promised that you wouldn't interfere with the integrity of the event," Logan quickly rejoined._

"_Well, I don't have anything else to change into, so unless you want me to fashion something out of pinecones, this is pretty much it," Rory was a little amused with Logan's game but she was trying hard not to show it._

"_Are you sure? You should check your tent," Logan smirked._

"_I have a cot…a nightstand and a basin, but I think that's pretty much it," Rory stated confidently. There wasn't exactly anywhere in the tent to hide formalwear._

"_Check again, Ace."_

_Rory re-entered her tent and made short work of finding the dress box under her cot. Inside the box was one of the most beautiful dresses that Rory had seen up close. It was pale blue silk with embroidery around the bust and on the underskirt of the dress, which was revealed where a portion of the overskirt was pulled aside. Accompanying the dress was a pair of pale blue ballet flats and a royal blue scarf. Rory had some difficulty holding the dress up and zipping it at the same time. When she finally managed, however, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the dress fit her perfectly. _

_She stepped tentatively out of the tent to be met by the critical eye of Logan Huntzberger. He took in her appearance and stated, "I have an eye for dress sizes," with his signature smirk. Although it wasn't the most expansive compliment she had ever received, Rory had a feeling that this was high praise from Logan. He had placed a hand on the small of her back for a moment to guide her towards the gathering. In that moment Rory had been able to feel his body heat and an odd sense of comfort radiating from the point of contact. She had been surprised by the feeling, never having felt such an emotion from such a simple touch before. Apparently Logan had felt something out of the ordinary as well, as he quickly removed his hand and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his tux pants. Rory had noted, as he walked quickly in front of her, that he looked a little ridiculous with his hand pulling up his suit jacket and puffing out his pants pockets._

_She had soon been engrossed in the events going on around her and had only seen Logan occasionally. She felt like Alice, down the rabbit hole, surrounded by boys in tuxedos and girls in ball gowns playing polo from hand litters and shooting paintball guns at flying figures serving as targets. Some how, at the end of the crazy day, she had found herself climbing up a ladder to a seven-story scaffolding. As she climbed she was desperately trying to replay her conversation with Logan in her head, figuring out how exactly he had talked her into this. She decided that she might have lost track of her argument around the time she noticed the lighter shades of caramel in the darker brown of Logan's irises. She cursed herself for being distracted by Logan's good looks. He was just a source and she should be able to ignore his appearance._

_When they finally reached the top, she nervously stammered, "Wow, we're really high."_

"_I've been higher," was Logan's immediate response._

_Thankful for Logan's attempt to distract her, Rory smiled slightly and attempted to sound somewhat exasperated, "I meant from the ground."_

"_That, too," Logan graced Rory with a full smile this time._

_As Rory was being strapped into her harness, which Seth helpfully noted matched her outfit, she couldn't help but look down at the waiting crowd._

"_Why does everyone look so worried?" she couldn't help but let her own nervousness creep into her voice._

"_They're just worried because we're running low on Champaign," Logan tried to reassure her, but his voice was sounding a little less confident than before. Rory had actually started to shake as Logan, the last in line, was strapped into his harness. She was going to jump, but she couldn't help but berate herself for her recklessness in agreeing to the stunt._

_Looking down and taking a deep breath, Logan mumbled under his breath, "I really should have confirmed that those potatoes made it through all right," and grabbed Rory's hand before jumping off of the scaffolding. Rory gripped Logan's hand tightly as she plummeted towards the ground. For a second she felt a terrifying exhilaration as she fell, without restraint, through the air. Then the bungee chord that she was harnessed to started to provide resistance, slowing her fall. Her descent took on a dream like quality as it began to feel like she was floating instead of falling. The entire time she could feel herself anchored to Logan by the hand. Finally they landed softly on the ground and she couldn't stop the huge smile that spread over her face. The tension from the bungee chord kept both Rory and Logan off balance and had them swaying beside each other. _

_Rory enveloped Logan's hand in both of hers, drew it to her chest and beamed at him. "A once in a lifetime experience," she breathed._

"_Only if you want it to be," Logan assured her softly. Slowly the smile faded from his face as he lost himself in the blue of Rory's eyes. Sensing the change in his demeanor, Rory also became more serious. She was so engrossed in Logan and the high from the jump that she momentarily forgot the cheering and laughing crowd of people around them._

_Slowly Logan leaned closer to Rory, keeping one hand in both of hers between them, he raised his free hand to her face, sliding his fingers into her hair and rubbing her cheek with his thumb. After searching her eyes for a second he leaned forward and captured her slightly parted lips in his. He started the kiss tentatively, seeming unsure whether Rory would respond, and then deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue between Rory's lips to slide over hers. Rory let her eyes flutter closed and she lost herself in the kiss. It had been so long since she had shared a first kiss with someone she had almost forgotten how sweet and exciting it could be. The fact that playboy extraordinaire, Logan Huntzberger, was being so gentle and so tentative was not lost on her. This kiss was nothing like she had imagined it would be, and she did admit to herself that she had imagined it during weaker moments._

_Too soon, Logan and Rory's kiss was interrupted by another LDBer offering them both flutes of Champaign. Logan and Rory looked at each other for a second, slightly stunned. Finally Logan had grinned at her and taken a swig of his drink. Rory had given him a brilliant smile in return, taking a sip from her own drink, and turning to take in the congratulations of the rest of the group. _

Instead of being awkward, Rory had felt completely at ease around Logan after that. He hadn't tried to kiss her again but he had taken every opportunity to touch her in some small way; a hand on the small of the back, an arm around the shoulder, a brush of fingers on her arm. Even when she had been blindfolded and seated beside him on the way home, he had clasped their hands together between them, hidden from the others. They had lightly bantered back and forth, enjoying each other's quick wit and quirky references. Rory was pleased to find that Finn, Colin, and Stephanie were more than happy to join in the conversation, seemingly accepting Rory now that she had survived an entire weekend with the Life and Death Brigade.

After that weekend Rory had only seen Logan occasionally around campus. Any time he saw her he made a point to stop and talk to her. Even if he was with another girl, he would leave his paramour of the moment to stand close to Rory, smirk at her and exchange a few quiet words while he brushed the back of his fingers against her arm. For some reason, Rory was perfectly content with their strange friendship. She couldn't deny that she liked him, he seemed to like her, and for the moment, the little bit of attention he was paying her was exciting without being overwhelming. It was the perfect situation to boost her self esteem and make her feel giddy without making her feel the same pressure she had always felt when Dean or Jess was pursuing her.

It hadn't been until a few weeks later that Logan had pursued any type of physical relationship with Rory. Rory had been tricked into attending a meat market at her grandparents' house where she was the main attraction. She had been cornered by a particularly disgusting young man who was in the middle of a very lewd suggestion when Logan found her.

"_Hey, Honey," Logan cooed, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm late." Rory stiffened for a moment before she realized who was touching her and then settled into his side. She had become jumpy being the only female in a sea of eager males. _

_Logan smirked towards the guy who had cornered Rory. "Thanks for looking after my girl, Jordon. You distracted her from realizing exactly how late I am."_

"_Wait, you two are dating?" Creepy guy asked, eyebrows raised._

"_Going on a year and half," Logan replied with a grin. He squeezed Rory's shoulder and smiled down at her. Rory gratefully covered Logan's hand with hers and returned his smile before turning back towards the creepy guy._

_Creepy guy's face turned a little stony before he turned to leave, muttering, "Then what am I here for?"_

_After they were left alone, Rory reluctantly slipped out from under Logan's arm and turned towards him. "Thank you, Logan. You didn't have to do that."_

"_Well, you looked a little cornered," Logan shrugged off his actions. "Now listen, Ace, I'm going to share the secret on how to survive these deadly boring parties. You have to form a sub-party." He walked towards a table serving as a staging area for the wait staff and helped himself to two bottles of Champaign. "Finn!"_

"_Finn's here?" Rory asked, slightly taken off guard by Logan's quick transition from quiet conversation to flurried activities._

"_Yeah, a lot of the guys are here," Logan confirmed while still keeping an eye out for Finn. Finally spotting him, Logan instructed, "Hey, grab some refreshments and meet us in the pool house. Spread the word." _

_An hour later Rory found herself firmly ensconced on the couch in the pool house, tucked under Logan's arm. Logan, Colin, Finn and several of the LDB members were drinking and playing games around the room. Logan was gently teasing Rory about the quantity of diamonds she had draped over her body. He was fingering one of her earrings a smirking at her when he suddenly raised his voice so that the entire room could hear him._

"_So, who's it going to be?" With that question almost everyone paused their activities and turned towards Logan and Rory._

"_Who's going to be what?" Rory asked, again taken off guard by Logan's quick change in demeanor. _

"_Well, Ace, this is obviously a party to find you a husband. So, who's it going to be?" Logan smirked, never removing his arm from around Rory's shoulders. Rory giggled, slightly tipsy, as all of the boys around the room starting making their case for being the future Mr. Rory Gilmore. She particularly enjoyed Finn's proclamation that he was exotic._

_Logan shook his head at the other's antics, never pleading his case. "A room full of men and still such slim pickings."_

"_Well, I don't think I could possibly pick just one of you," Rory said with a coy smile. "Obviously I'll have to date each of you to see which one of you can best meet my needs." She was surprised to see Logan frown momentarily and she continued, "But really, I couldn't possibly pick someone tonight. That would make my grandparents way too happy."_

_Logan seemed to relax slightly after her brush off of the situation. He pulled her a little closer to him. "Well, we wouldn't want to please your grandparents. That would be a tragedy of epic proportions."_

_Rory smiled back at Logan and then started, her eyes wide. "Oh my God. How long have we been out here?" She climbed to her feet, looking for the high heels she had kicked off._

"_An hour, maybe a little more. Why, you got a hot date you need to sneak out and meet?" Logan asked, looking up at her and fingering the hem of her skirt from his position, still seated on the couch._

"_No," Rory rolled her eyes and gave a rather inelegant snort. "But if I don't go check in with Emily I'll have hell to pay. I'll never hear the end of it." She had finally located her shoes and was easing her soar foot onto the four-inch heel. "I think if I sneak in and pretend like I've been making the rounds I can probably be back here in fifteen minutes._

"_Hurry back, Love," Finn slurred in her general direction. Most of the others had returned to their previous activities._

"_Do you want me to come with you, protect you from all of those big bad boys who have all of the appeal of cardboard?" Logan offered._

"_That's sweet, but no," Rory smiled softly at him. "The last thing I need is for Grandma to get the idea that we're dating. The next thing you know she'll have bought me a wedding dress and booked our honeymoon. I promise I'll be right back."_

_Rory had decided to walk around to the front of the house and try to slip in the front door without being noticed, assuming that Emily and Richard would be somewhere deep in the house, entertaining their guests. Just as Rory was about to ease the door open, she heard her name being called in a hushed whisper. Startled, she whipped around only to find Dean leaning against his truck._

"_Dean," she hissed. "What are you doing here? You _can not_ be here!" Even though her words were fierce, she had pressed herself against the front door, trying to shrink further away from him. She couldn't decide if she was more scared of what Dean might do or of her grandparents finding out he was here. They were aware of the "Dean Situation" and had not been as supportive as she had hoped. They were sticking by the tried and true 'ignore him until he goes away' strategy._

_Dean walked slowly towards her, a scowl etched across his face. He stood as close as he could to her without actually touching her, forcing her to crane her neck to look at him. _

"_I can be wherever you are, Rory. I _will_ be wherever you are." He reached out to touch her face and Rory flinched away. "I left Lindsay for you, Rory. I disappointed my whole family…_for you_. You think that you don't want me anymore, but you're wrong." Dean was almost growling at the end._

"_Dean, we've talked about this," Rory swallowed hard, not meeting Dean's eyes. "We've been over for a long time. I didn't ask you to leave Lindsay. What we almost did…that was a mistake." Rory chanced a glance at Dean's face and saw the familiar anger clouding his eyes. "You can still go back to Lindsay. We didn't do anything wrong. I know you must still love her." She was speaking quickly now, trying to make him listen to the same argument that she had uselessly put forth before._

"_We'll never be over, Rory," Dean wrapped his hands around Rory's upper arms and squeezed, shaking her a little. "I don't understand why you can't see that."_

"_Dean, please," Rory hated that her voice was shaking._

_Dean squeezed her arms tighter, making Rory gasp in pain. "What I really want to know right now, though, is why the fuck are you dressed up like some kind of prize in a room full of nothing but guys." Dean's voice was getting louder and Rory looked around, panicked that someone might see him here. Just then she heard voices approaching them from the direction of the pool house._

"_Dean, you have to go," Rory said emphatically. "If my grandparents find you here they _will_ call the police and there's nothing I can do about it." Rory wasn't sure if that was exactly the case but Dean didn't know that._

_Dean looked toward the noise of the approaching boys and back at Rory, indecision clear on his face. He finally let go of her and started backing away, "We're not done here, Rory. We're going to be together. Just get used to that idea." He gave Rory one last look and closed the door to his truck, driving away just as Robert and Seth rounded the corner. Robert was drunkenly singing as Seth held him up. _

"_Oh, hey Rory," Seth greeted amiably. "I think it's about time for me to take Robert home."_

_Rory shook her head quickly and gave a weak smile, thankful that Seth was too preoccupied to question why she was standing outside the front door by herself. She decided to skip finding her grandparents in case they could tell how upset she was. She shakily walked towards the pool house and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. By the time she walked through the door, she was able to put a bright smile on her face._

"_Hey Huntzberger, how about giving me one of those," Rory said, falling onto the couch beside him and gesturing towards his drink. _

_Logan looked down at his Scotch and then looked quizzically back at Rory. "You like Scotch, Ace? I didn't take you as a Scotch type of girl."_

_Rory blinked, and smiled a little uncertainly. "You don't think I'd like it? What kind of drink do you think my drink would be?"_

_Logan gave Rory a hard look and yelled to Finn without turning away from Rory, "Hey Finn, how about fix our girl here a vodka tonic with lots of lime." He leaned closer to Rory and gently touched her arm. Rory flinched slightly when he slid his fingers over the bruises developing where Dean had grabbed her. "Rory, are you alright?"_

_Rory directed her gaze at Logan's left shoulder and nodded, "I'm fine, Logan. I just want something a little stronger than Champaign." Her voice sounded a little shaky, even to her._

_Logan ducked his head, making Rory look him in the eye. "What happened here?" he asked, indicating the red marks on her arm that would be turning into bruises shortly._

"_Nothing happened, Logan," Rory smiled reassuringly at him. "I just bruise easy."_

"_You just bruise easy, huh?" Logan repeated, clearly unconvinced but seemingly willing to let it drop for now._

"_Yep," Rory gave an exaggerated nod. "I'm a peach." Logan rewarded her with a smile and drew her back into his side as Finn delivered her drink._

_By the end of the night, Rory knew that she wouldn't be able to drive home. She didn't even bother to say goodbye to her grandparents but instead asked the maid to retrieve her purse from the second floor. As she started walking towards her car, wondering exactly what to do, Logan approached her. He seemed to be much steadier on his feet than she was._

"_Where are you going, Ace?" Logan smirked at her, reaching for her hand. "I don't think it's such a good idea for you to drive tonight."_

_Rory giggled and then covered her mouth, embarrassed. Rory Gilmore did _not _giggle. "I know. I was just trying to figure out what to do."_

"_Well, come with me, Ace." Logan commanded, fully taking her hand and pulling her gently towards him. "I have a driver picking me up and I'm sure he'd be happy to take you back to Yale, too. You are going back to Yale, right?"_

_Rory nodded her head, remembering that Lorelai had taken her reprieve from Friday night dinner as an opportunity to spend the entire weekend in Boston with Christopher. She willing let Logan lead her towards a limousine that had pulled into the driveway. She vaguely registered that the other boys were piling into a separate limo. She wondered momentarily why they weren't all riding together but dismissed the thought as Logan guided her into the limo._

_Once they were settled comfortably into the back seat, drinks in hand, and the limo was moving steadily towards Yale, Logan turned toward Rory and studied her face. "Did you have a good time tonight, Ace?"_

_Rory smiled softly and broke Logan's gaze, blushing, "Yeah…I really did."_

_Logan reached out and gently brushed the back of his curled fingers against Rory's smooth cheek, causing her to look back up at him. He was smiling slightly at her, a look of indecision on his face._

"_Hey, Ace," he started hesitantly. "Why did you let your grandparents throw you a meat market party? Or, better yet, why did they even throw it for you. You don't exactly seem like you'd have a problem getting a date."_

_Rory could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks. "Well, I didn't exactly _let_ them throw me that party. They told me it was a Yale alumni party."_

_Logan laughed a little, "Ah, Emily and Richard are the type that shanghai you into things instead of guilting you into things. I think I can respect that."_

"_Respect it all you want," Rory retorted. "It doesn't feel very nice to get blindsided like that. It's embarrassing."_

_Logan smiled at her again, scooting a little closer to her and taking her glass from her hands to set it aside. "You haven't answered my other question." He had lowered his voice a register, almost whispering now. "Why would your grandparents even throw you that kind of party?"_

_Rory blinked a few times and looked at her lap again. "I haven't exactly dated a lot lately," she answered, silently admitting to herself that her explanation was a bit of an understatement. "And when I do date, Emily and Richard don't tend to approve of my choices."_

_Logan moved even closer to Rory and lifted her chin, "Well, you don't have to worry about that with me." He paused for a second and Rory could almost see him biting his tongue. She smirked a little at the playboy indicating in anyway that he would ever be a boyfriend. He swallowed and continued bravely, "I mean, your grandparents already love me."_

"_You know my grandparents?" Rory didn't know why she was surprised. Of course they knew each other. Connecticut society really wasn't that big._

"_I've been being dragged to the same parties as your grandparents since I was twelve, Ace." He shot her another smirk, which was replaced by a puzzled look. "Now that you mention it, why don't I know you? Where have you been all these years?"_

"_Well, my mom really didn't want me having to deal with all of the society stuff so she tried to keep me away from all of the parties and stuff. I wasn't even really close to my grandparents until I was fifteen and started going to Chilton," Rory always felt awkward trying to explain her life to society kids. She actually thought that Logan would probably be aware of the whole 'Lorelai getting knocked up and running away' scandal._

"_Oh," Logan said quickly, a look of realization dawning on his face. Rory realized that he _did _know about the scandal, he just hadn't made the connection. "You're mom's Lorelai Gilmore. The myth, the legend, the girl who got pregnant and finally got away from her parents. It's very impressive to be in the presence of part of the most oft used cautionary tale." Logan was smiling and Rory could tell he was teasing her, but the words stung._

"_I'm a cautionary tale?" Rory asked in disbelief._

"_Well, you're _supposed_ to be a cautionary tale but I can tell you that more than one of my friends seriously contemplated knocking up a girl just to get away from their parents after hearing that story," Logan assured her, sensing that he had taken a wrong step. "In our generation, your mom is kind of a hero."_

"_Well, she is pretty great," Rory acknowledged, with a sad smile. Things were still strained between the two even though they were both trying. Rory had refrained from mentioning Logan to Lorelai at all, knowing she would hate the fact that he was from society and that Rory seemed content with their odd relationship._

"_Hey, why don't we stop talking about parents," Logan slid even closer, raising a hand to play with the ends of her hair that had slipped out of her updo. He gave her his famous smirk before he leaned in further, sliding his lips onto hers. Rory kissed Logan back, surprised that this kiss seemed as good as their first. She had thought the first kiss just seemed so amazing because of the adrenaline from the jump. He nibbled slightly on her bottom lip and then ran his tongue over the same spot. Rory parted her lips slightly and Logan took it as a sign of encouragement to deepen the kiss. He slid his hand to wrap slightly around the back of her neck, pulling her more into the kiss._

_Logan finally broke away and looked searchingly into Rory's eyes. Rory smiled at him and leaned in to continue the kiss. Logan smirked and accepted Rory's advances. Soon, he had moved her so that she was lying across the bench seat of the limousine and he was resting on his side, between Rory and the back seat cushion. He was leaning partially over her and had moved his attention to the spot directly below her ear, lightly biting the angle of her jaw as his free hand crept from her waist toward her breasts. Rory buried one of her hands in his hair, vaguely registering that she had never had the privilege of experiencing quite so thorough of a seduction before. Both Dean and Jess had always tried to rush things to the next point, just slightly beyond whatever it was that she had allowed before. Logan was taking his time, making sure that she was appreciating his caresses._

_Logan started to move his lips further down her neck and Rory tilted her head to give him better access. Just as she did, she felt the tiara she was wearing become unmoored and begin to slide. She moved her hand to catch it and sat up slightly._

_ Logan looked at her questioningly and she smiled back apologetically, "I'm sorry. I seem to be losing some of my gilding, here."_

_ Logan smirked at her predicament and sat to help her untangle the tiara from her hair. "Don't worry about it. I kind of forgot you had all of this stuff on." As Logan was helping her, they felt the limo slow to a stop. Logan looked out the window and turned back to Rory. "It looks like we're here. Um, Frank took us to my dorm. I could walk you back to yours, if you want, or…you could come up with me."_

_ Rory smiled at his proposition. She had thought that the great Logan Huntzberger would be a little bit smoother when trying to lure a girl to his room. But, then again, from what she heard, girls tended to ask _him_ if they could go back to his dorm, not the other way around. Maybe he just wasn't used to it._

_ "Let's go to your dorm," Rory agreed. She was rewarded with a smirk. Logan grabbed her hand and began leading her quickly towards his dorm. He was going so fast that she had to run a little in her heals. She laughed, "Logan, slow down. I'm wearing _very _high heals."_

_ "Sorry, sorry. I guess I'm just a little eager," he replied while unlocking his door. Rory knew he was joking around, but the implications of returning to Logan Huntzberger's dorm in the middle of the night suddenly hit her and she began to feel very nervous. Even if she was ready to find out what all the fuss about sex was, and she was pretty sure Logan could show her, she wasn't sure if she was ready to lose her virginity to someone she wasn't dating and, if truth be told, didn't know very well. He was currently laving a sensitive spot on her neck with his tongue as he searched for the zipper on her dress and led her to his room._

_ "Um, Logan," Rory started uncertainly and was rewarded with a passionate kiss. She tried again as Logan began sliding her zipper down._

_ "Um, Logan…I think I should…" he kissed her again before giving her his full attention. "I think I should tell you that I, um, don't want to have sex with you tonight." She rushed the last part of her sentence, suddenly feeling ridiculous. She could see confusion and disappointment flit briefly across his face before he smiled reassuringly at her._

_ "Ok, no sex. Got it. But…ah…can we do other stuff?" he asked hopefully. Rory gave a relieved smile, happy to be back on more familiar ground. She had never gotten past second base with Dean, but while she was dating Jess, she had gotten very familiar with 'other stuff'. _

_ "Yeah, other stuff would be fun," she nodded and kissed Logan deeply, bringing her arms to wrap around his neck. Logan returned the kiss and, finally having unzipped her dress, pushed it off of her shoulders so that it fell to the ground. Rory shivered slightly and pressed herself further into Logan. Realizing that she was standing in her underwear while Logan was still fully dressed, she started unbuttoning his shirt. Logan stepped away from Rory for a second, placing the tiara he had still been holding on his dresser. He quickly shrugged off his jacket and pulled his button down shirt along with his undershirt over his head. Rory took in the sight of Logan's bare chest, completely forgetting that she was currently standing in a black lacy bra and panty set. When she did remember, she was inordinately grateful to Lorelai for always insisting that she wear pretty underwear because it 'just made you feel better about yourself.' _

_ She smiled at Logan, who was currently raking his gaze up and down her body. She stepped towards him again running her hand from his muscled chest down his tight abs. As she reached for his belt buckle, he pulled her into another kiss and started moving her towards his bed. When they reached the bed, Logan sat and attempted to pull Rory down beside him. Rory smiled shyly and tugged her hand out of Logan's. Instead of sitting beside him, she lowered herself to her knees in front of him, positioning herself between his legs. Logan's eyebrows shot up at Rory's move but he helped her remove his pants and boxers._

_ Rory slid her hands up his thighs towards his already stiff erection. She pumped him once with her right hand, rubbing her thumb over the tip. She started to feel nervous again. She had only ever done this with Jess and Logan was longer and thicker than Jess had been. She took a deep breath and licked him from the base to the tip with the flat of her tongue and heard him moan a little._

_ She looked up at him, trying to hide the nerves that were overtaking her, "Tell me what you like, ok?" Logan nodded tightly, agreeing. She smiled gratefully and bent to take his head into her mouth while gripping the base with her right hand, her left hand still on Logan's thigh to help steady her. She began to bob her head up and down, making sure that her teeth never made contact with him and massaging him with her tongue, just like Jess had taught her._

_ "Yeah, that's it. God, yeah," Logan moaned his encouragement. She kept on going for a couple of minutes before Logan spoke up again. "Just…suck a little harder…yeah, absolutely, that's it…" Rory felt Logan twine his fingers through her hair and was surprised that he didn't apply any pressure, trying to get her to take more of him into her mouth. He remained mostly silent, with a few strained moans thrown in. Rory continued her ministrations, applying more suction as requested. She could feel Logan's cock begin to throb and she increased her speed. All of a sudden she felt him thrust gently into her mouth and felt the head of his cock press into the back of her throat. She thought for a second that she would gag but the moment passed and she continued, prepared for the next thrust._

_ "Could you just…play with my balls," Logan sounded extremely strained now, close to his release. Rory cupped his balls with her left hand and rolled them in her fingers. She had never done this for Jess and was slightly fascinated by the feel of them. Her eyes were watering slightly from the exertion of holding her jaw open so widely. Suddenly it felt like Logan grew even larger in her mouth, throbbing even more, and she felt his hot seed hit the back of her throat. She swallowed quickly and kept him in her mouth for a moment longer._

_ "Oh my God, Ace," Logan moaned and fell back onto the bed. "That was amazing." Rory smiled widely, glad that her experience with Jess translated into a job well done with Logan. All of a sudden Logan sat up, pulled her onto his lap and kissed her passionately. He pulled back, still panting. "That innocent look is all an act, huh?"_

_ Rory just laughed a little nervously. She was pretty sure that Logan didn't realize that they had just reached the limit of her experience. _

_ "Come here, Ace," Logan pulled her towards the head of the bed so that she was lying on her back with her head on his pillow. He scooted up so that he was lying on his side, resting his weight lightly on her with one of his legs draped over hers. He buried his face into her neck and laughed quietly. "All right, princess. It's your turn, I promise. But I _have_ to take off these diamonds. I feel like I'm hooking up with the Duchess of Kent or something."_

_ Rory smiled and nodded. Her nerves were coming back full force because she didn't really know what 'her turn' consisted of. This is pretty much the point where things ended with Jess. She sat up and started to remove one of her earrings. Logan motioned for her to turn around and she felt him start to work on the clasp of her necklace. He took the necklace and the earrings from her and placed them on his nightstand. He turned back and drew her towards him. He kissed her deeply, massaging her tongue with his and running a hand up her back. She felt his hand go to the clasp of her bra and expertly unsnap it. _

_He moved to suck lightly on her pulse point as he removed her bra completely. He laid her gently back onto the bed and continued to kiss his way down to the top of her cleavage. He was using both of his hands to lightly squeeze her breasts and he brushed his thumbs over her erect nipples as he nibbled at the top swell of her breasts. Rory shuddered slightly and felt her breath hitch. She was still nervous but she was starting to feel a rhythmic pulling in the pit of her stomach and a throbbing between her legs. Logan moved his mouth to her right breast and circled her nipple with his tongue as he gently rolled her left nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Rory heard herself moan quietly and then bit her lip to try to quiet herself._

_Logan moved to the other breast and repeated his ministrations. He bit her nipple gently and then sucked her entire nipple into his mouth, sending waves of pleasure through her. Through her haze, she felt Logan cup her through her underwear and press. Another wave of pleasure shot through her and she moaned louder this time._

"_My God, Ace, you're wet. You're panties are soaked," Logan smirked up at her from his position at her chest. He was keeping his voice to a silky whisper. "Going down on me must have really turned you on." Rory closed her eyes and arched her back so that her breast was pressed more firmly into his hand. Jess was never really big on the dirty talk so she wasn't sure how to respond. On top of that, she didn't know if it was good that she was wet or not. Logan seemed a little smug about it so she decided he must like it. She wished that she had a few more girl friends who would share this kind of stuff with her. Lane was even less experienced that her and Paris would never dream of going into these kind of details._

_He made his way quickly down her body, placing wet, open mouth kisses randomly on her abdomen. Rory gasped a little when Logan hooked his fingers into the waistband of her panties and began to pull them down. She placed her hand on one of Logan's to stop him. He looked up at her and seemed to sense her nervousness._

"_Ace, you can trust me," Logan said, seriously. "You're going to like everything I do, and if you don't, I'll stop. I promise."_

_Rory studied Logan's eyes and saw nothing but sincerity. She also felt her body screaming to let him do whatever it was he was about to do. She bit her lip and nodded her head. He smirked at her again and shimmied her panties over her hips as she arched up to help his progress. Logan didn't waste any time positioning himself between her legs, nudging them wider with his shoulders. He slid his fingers through her folds, spreading her wetness from her center to her clit. He looked up at her as he circled her clit with his thumb. He grinned wickedly as her mouth opened in an 'oh' and she clamped her eyes shut at the sensation. He bent his head again and licked a wet strip through her folds with the flat of his tongue. Rory gasped again and bucked her hips in surprise. She had been pretty sure that this was what Logan was going to do but she wasn't prepared for the actual feeling of his wet mouth at her core._

"_Easy there, Ace. You've got to hold still for me," Logan sounded amused as he moved his left hand to hold her hips firmly to the bed._

_Rory nodded quickly while keeping her eyes clamped shut. Logan closed his lips over her clit and sucked it into his mouth. Rory moaned again. Logan pulled back and began licking Rory's clit in nonsensical patterns, alternating between quick and slow stokes. Just as Rory was getting used to the sensations he was causing with his tongue and the feeling of pressure building, Logan slid one and then two fingers into her and started pumping them rhythmically. Rory began moaning constantly, too far gone to be embarrassed. Finally Rory felt her entire body tighten and then seemingly explode. Her vision whited out and she vaguely heard herself cry out repeatedly as she writhed under Logan._

_When she came back down, she could feel her eyes open wide in amazement, surprised by the overwhelming feeling of her first orgasm. Logan climbed up beside her and grinned, looking very pleased with himself. He surprised her again by kissing her quickly and slipping his tongue into her mouth. She could taste herself on him and was surprised that she enjoyed it instead of being grossed out. _

"_See, I told you I'd make you feel good," Logan stated smugly, pulling her to rest on his chest. Rory was still trying to catch her breath and thankfully snuggled into him. She registered his hardness against her thigh and looked up at him, surprised._

"_You're hard again," she stated simply, wonder in her voice. She made a vague gesture, asking whether he'd like for her to help him with his dilemma._

"_Hey, don't worry about it, Ace," Logan assured, pulling Rory's head back to his chest. "Just, next time, maybe we should take care of you first."_

_Rory silently thrilled at the idea of next time, definitely wanting to experience the same high again. She felt herself relax in Logan's arms. He lazily stroked his hand up and down her back and she felt herself drift into sleep._

Rory shivered again, pulled out of her thoughts by the freezing air whipping past her. She smiled at the memory of her and Logan's first night together. She had had no idea that she could feel so good. She finally understood why people went so crazy over sex.

She had been equally surprised at the lack of awkwardness the following morning. Logan had obviously had a lot of experience with the morning after and knew how to put her at ease. Rory had been careful not to be clingy or to make any mention of future plans. She was well aware of Logan's reputation and his aversion to anything remotely resembling a girlfriend. He had hinted at future rendezvous and that was enough for her at that time. She enjoyed having Logan's attention without feeling the pressure of being the perfect girlfriend, making sure that she was paying him enough attention, making sure that she didn't do anything to make him jealous. She also knew that if anything more serious came of her relationship with Logan, she would have to inform Lorelai and she really wanted to avoid that. Lorelai would never understand Rory's willingness to be involved with a society brat or her ability to fit in so well with Logan and his friends.

They had seen each other fairly frequently around campus after that. He would surprise her by pulling her into secluded corners and kissing her thoroughly. He often drew her into hanging out with his friends at the pub and she had gone home with him several more times for a repeat of the first night's activities. He never asked her on an official date and she never pushed for more. She occasionally saw him with other girls and she had to admit that it bothered her a little. He asked her one time, after they had run into each other at the pub when he was with another girl, if it bothered her. She had assured him that they weren't in a relationship and she didn't expect him to stop seeing other people. He had seemed placated by her answer, even if she saw that he seemed to doubt her answer.

Rory noticed that they were pulling into a residential neighborhood and realized that they were probably close to her grandparent's house. She let out a breath, remembering that her situation with Logan was anything but happy at the moment and the upcoming dinner was just going to add to her misery. She was worried that she had completely ruined things with Logan and she wasn't really sure how to fix it. She hadn't heard from him, or really seen him, in over two weeks. He had dropped out of her world and she felt like there was a void in her life. He had been fulfilling the need she had for a close connection with someone and his friends had been fulfilling her need for a social life. Without them, she was back on the uncertain footing she had been on during her freshman year. She was miserable.

Christopher finally pulled into a driveway of a truly mammoth house. Unlike most of the houses in Hartford, this one was older, with Colonial architecture so it had a little more charm. However, the charm didn't take away from the intimidation factor that the size of the house held. Christopher cut the engine and leaned the bike against the kickstand.

"Rore, you need to get off first, ok?" Christopher instructed. Rory nodded then, realizing that her father couldn't see her, she awkwardly dismounted the bike, stumbling a little as she tried to gain her balance on high heels. She pulled the helmet off and placed it on the bike. She also undid the scarf that she had tied over her hair to attempt to keep it from being completely flattened out.

Christopher took off his helmet and smiled at her, "So, you still feel cool riding on your old man's bike?"

Rory couldn't help but smile back at him. He did try, in his inept way, to be a good dad sometimes. "Well, it might have been a little cold this time. But I wouldn't mind a ride in the spring."

She took off Christopher's extra leather jacket and folded as best she could and was instantly hit by the chilly air. Chris took the jacket from her and opened his saddlebag to retrieve her over coat. She was futilely trying to untangle the ends of her hair when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. She turned and froze in shock.

"Hey, Ace. Fancy meeting you here," Logan said in a slightly cold tone, without his usual smirk.


	3. Chapter 3

LPOV:

Logan was already in a foul mood at having been drug to a pointless dinner by his father. He didn't even know if he was going to be able to muster up polite conversation when he finally worked up the willpower to approach the Hayden's door and ring the bell. He knew he had to get it together soon, though. His father's car was already parked in the driveway, meaning that Mitchum was firmly ensconced inside, drink in hand. He took a few steps towards the house and then stopped, scrubbing his hands over his face and through his hair. If he was completely honest, he had been in a horrible mood since his last run in with Rory and he had to shake it off. People were starting to notice and Finn and Collin had already made more than a few pointed comments about Rory's sudden absence. He let out a breath and took another step towards the house, trying to psych himself up for the dinner.

Before he could take another step, he heard the loud rumble of a motorcycle approaching. He was a little surprised that motorcycles were even allowed in this neighborhood. He was even more surprised, bordering on shocked when the motorcycle, carrying two passengers, pulled into the Hayden's driveway. He decided that the motorcycle was the perfect excuse to delay his entrance a little longer. He obviously had to see who had the nerve to show up to dinner with Straub and Francine driving something other than a nice, four-door sedan (excluding his Porsche, of course).

He watched the woman on the back of bike climb ungracefully down to the driveway. He chuckled a little as he watched her stumble. It obviously wasn't her idea to travel by motorcycle. The girl took off her helmet but kept her back turned so that he couldn't identify her. The driver also took off his helmet and he immediately recognized the legendary bad boy, Christopher Hayden. Logan had met him on a couple of occasions and had always found him to be a thoroughly entertaining guy. He admired Christopher greatly for having the courage to thumb his nose at his parents and strike off on his own. Apparently, after graduating Princeton he had lived a couple of wild years in California before settling down and founding a couple of wildly successful software companies. As Logan understood it, Christopher had absolutely no computer programming skills himself but had instead used his understanding of business to foster the products of a few computer guys he knew and market them to the world at large. He had come back to Connecticut as a successful businessman a little over four years ago, able to openly defy his parents and make his own decisions. Straub had publicly welcomed his son back as if there had been no falling out, but gossip was that relations were still strained.

The woman removed the scarf she had tied around her head and shook out her hair. As she did, Logan caught a glimpse of her face and instantly stiffened. His Ace had just shown up on the back of a motorcycle with Christopher Hayden to have dinner with Chris' parents. He felt his anger rising. He couldn't believe that she would throw him over for being too much of a playboy and then run straight to Christopher Hayden, the playboy that all other playboys modeled themselves after. He had thought he saw Rory with him on campus earlier this week, but he had dismissed it as impossible. Now he mentally reviewed what he had witnessed and was none too pleased. It was obvious from their actions that there was some kind of intimate relationship between the two. Maybe his Ace wasn't as innocent as she seemed to be, just like he had been teasing her about all along. He felt his feet carrying him toward her without consciously deciding to approach the pair.

"Hey, Ace. Fancy meeting you here," Logan could hear the hostility in his voice and he had to stop himself from flinching at Rory's expression, which was a mix between shock and trepidation. He thought he also caught a glimpse of fear as she glanced over her shoulder at Christopher and he wondered about that.

"Logan…Oh my God, what are you doing here?" Rory's voice sounded completely unsure. She turned toward Christopher and lightly accused, "You didn't tell me that anyone else was coming to dinner." Logan noted the familiarity with which she addressed Christopher, as if she had known him for years.

"Sorry, Rore. I really thought it was just going to be us, Straub and Francine," Chris shrugged apologetically. Rory turned back to Logan as Christopher continued speaking, still trying to yank the tangles out of her hair. "Maybe we should go inside and find out what we're facing here." Logan was surprised that he could hear the same reluctance in Christopher's voice that he felt whenever he was forced to return to his own childhood home.

"Sure, Da…sure," Logan heard Rory start to call Christopher something and then catch herself. He wondered bitterly if she had some cutesy nickname for him. "Um, do you think you could go ahead and let me have a few words with Logan?"

"Oh, Logan," Christopher shook his head a little. "God, man, I'm sorry. I should have recognized you." He looked back and forth between Logan and Rory, noticing that Logan hadn't taken his eyes off of Rory and that Rory was looking down and fidgeting. "So…do you two know each other?"

"Um, yeah. Logan and I are on the paper together at Yale," Rory bobbed her head anxiously. All three stood in awkward silence for a little while. Logan couldn't bring himself to look away from Rory even though he knew it was getting pretty obvious.

"Well, yeah," Christopher suddenly broke the silence. "I'll go inside and let you two talk for a second." He cupped Rory's elbow so that she looked up at him and added softly, for her ears only, "Just don't take too long, ok? We want this to go as smoothly as possible." Logan clenched his jaw and felt his hands curl into fists at their intimacy. He finally broke his gaze from Rory and watched until Christopher had been admitted into the house by a maid. He then turned sharply back to Rory.

"So, you decided to ditch me and move onto Christopher Hayden?" his voice was laced with venom but he couldn't bring himself to reign in his temper. He was genuinely hurt by Rory's rejection and, never having cared about a girl enough to be hurt by her, he felt a little self-pity and anger was allowed.

"Ditch you?" Rory asked, her voice incredulous and her eyebrows shooting towards her hairline. "I didn't ditch you. You've been avoiding me!"

"Yeah, if you didn't ditch me, what are you doing with some new guy? Huh?" Logan demanded. He was too upset at seeing Rory with such a notorious womanizer to really listen to what she was saying. "Do you have any idea what kind of guy Christopher Hayden is, Rory? He makes me look like a saint. He goes through girls like paper cups. He's going to hurt you!" Logan realized how loud he was getting and stopped himself, looking towards the house and running a hand through his hair. "I just don't understand why my reputation spooked you when you seem pretty cozy with a guy who's ten times worse than me." Rory looked genuinely appalled by Logan's words and was shaking her head half way through his speech.

"God, Logan, you think I'm dating him?" Rory asked, her voice edged with disgust. "No, I'm definitely not dating him." She was waving her hands in front of her stomach, as if to clear the air of the idea. She was bobbing her head as she spoke, emphasizing the sincerity of certain words. "He's…an old family friend. I've known him for a really long time…for years. Actually, he and my mom used to be really good friends." Rory was speaking a little quickly, even more so than usual. Logan frowned, not sure what to make of Rory's denial. She was obviously holding something back but she truly seemed a little sickened at the idea of dating Christopher. "Sometimes I get roped into doing things with the Haydens…you know, to keep my grandparents happy."

Logan thought she had ended her explanation a little lamely but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. It made the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach retreat a little. He nodded his head and was opening his mouth to speak when Rory cut him off.

"Look Logan," she started, nervously looking towards the house. "I know that we maybe need to talk about some stuff…" she licked her lips, looking even more uncomfortable. "You probably want an explanation for me running out like I did, and I promise I'll give it to you…but can we do it tomorrow back at school? I really don't want to keep Straub and Francine waiting any longer than I have to."

Logan looked closely at Rory. He had never seen her look so nervous. She was fidgeting and her face was quickly losing color except for two bright spots of red high on her cheeks. "Hey, sure we can talk tomorrow," he assured, taking on a softer tone. He brushed her arm to get her to focus on him. "Are you alright, Ace?"

"Sure, sure" she nodded her head a little too quickly. "I just really hate these things, you know?" With that she turned and walked towards the house. Logan had little choice but to follow.

When the maid had admitted them, greetings had been exchanged and drinks served, Logan looked around the gathering, taking everyone in for the first time. His father and Straub were acting overly jovial, just like his father acted when he was engaged with business talk with someone he didn't particularly like. Logan also noticed that, aside from the presence of Rory and Francine, the evening had a classic business dinner feel. He looked suspiciously at his father and tried to catch his eye. When Mitchum finally looked toward Logan, he gave him a warning glare, silently telling him to be on his best behavior. He grew even more suspicious when he noticed that Francine alternated between smiling weakly and staring quietly into her drink. Rory was also being unusually quiet and, Logan couldn't be sure, but he thought that she was going out of her way to avoid addressing anyone by their name. Furthermore, she had only been mildly excited when she was introduced to his father and Logan found that odd because he knew that she had some kind of weird fan girl obsession with Mitchum because of his status as a newspaper mogul.

Logan made sure to get at least two refills of Scotch before they moved into the dining room to eat. He could sense that something unpleasant was going to be discussed at dinner and he wanted to be comfortably lubricated before the fun started. Even with his sixth sense for horrible society shanghais, he could never have guessed what was coming when Straub cleared his throat during the salad course.

"Ok, I don't see any reason to put this off any longer," Straub stated authoritatively, setting down his fork. Logan noticed that Francine seemed to have completely retreated into her own world, sitting quietly with her hands in her lap, staring into her salad.

"Mitchum, as I've informed you, Christopher here has finally decided to marry Lorelai Gilmore," Logan's head snapped around to look at Rory across from him, wondering why she hadn't told him earlier when he had accused her of dating Christopher. He was honestly feeling a little sheepish at the moment. He noticed that both Rory and Christopher were staring wide-eyed at Straub.

"Now, normally, we would be thrilled with that kind of union. In fact, we would have preferred for Christopher and Lorelai to get married years ago." Logan recognized a shot from father to son when he heard one. "The problem we're facing with these upcoming nuptials is the question of how to deal with their bastard daughter." Logan was a little shocked Straub's casual use of the term bastard. He was on high alert now and looked over to Rory to see how she was handling the situation. She was now mimicking Francine, staring hard at her salad plate.

"Dad," Christopher started in a hushed tone.

"No, Christopher," Straub silenced him harshly. "If you want to marry Lorelai, we have to deal with your little mistake in a manner that won't reflect poorly on this family. Now, up until this point we have made sure that Rory's ties to this family have been kept completely under wraps, but once the wedding takes place, there really isn't going to be a way to keep that arrangement."

Logan inhaled sharply and looked back at Rory. It had never really occurred to him to wonder who her father was. It was commonly believed that Lorelai had had an affair with a gardener or some other type of local bad boy and Emily and Richard had made sure that he was out of the picture. Now, he could clearly see the resemblance between Rory and Christopher. They had the same shape face, the same nose, and a similar mouth. It was just that Rory's eyes and coloring were so much like Lorelai's that it was easy to be tricked into thinking that she was a younger clone of her mother. Suddenly it struck Logan that Straub was casually calling Rory a bastard and a mistake to her face. He was flooded with an odd mixture of boiling rage directed towards Straub and sympathy for Rory.

"Dad!" Christopher interjected. "Rory is not…"

"Be quiet Christopher!" Straub cut him off sharply. "I'm trying to fix things for you! The least you can do is listen respectfully." Straub turned so that he was addressing Mitchum more than anyone else. Christopher joined his mother and Rory in staring at his salad.

"Now, the angle we're going to take is that Rory has always been a part of this family and we have treated her as such." Logan heard a bitter chuckle emanate from Rory's general direction. Straub didn't acknowledge her at all. "We're going to quietly spread the story that you and Lorelai have been raising Rory without getting married because, lets face it, its no secret that you two have always been a little rebellious. We're going to say that you and Lorelai decided to keep her status as a Hayden quiet because of all of the attention she would have had to endure as both the most obvious Gilmore and Hayden heir. This will also be fairly believable because Lorelai certainly has done everything she could to ensure that Rory was not properly introduced into society."

"Dad, that's not fair. Rory was a debutant. She was valedictorian at Chilton," Christopher interjected tightly, obviously uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Oh please, Christopher. Richard had to present Rory at her debut. It was an embarrassment and it did more to hurt Rory's reputation than help it. If I had had any idea that was taking place I would have stopped it. Of course, I truthfully didn't think that I would ever have to worry about how Rory's reputation would affect this family. I _still_ wouldn't have to worry about it if you could just control yourself where Lorelai Gilmore is concerned!" Straub's face turned slightly red as he yelled at Christopher. Christopher seemed to decide that he had done his job defending Rory and sat back in his chair with a sigh, signaling his withdrawal from the argument.

"Now, if Rory is going to be the Hayden heir, we obviously have to introduce her into society and make sure that she is actually accepted in society. That's a lot easier said than done."

Rory surprised Logan by speaking up, "Why do I have to be the Hayden heir? I'm sure that Mom and Dad are planning on having more children. You can wait for one of them to be the heir and just leave me out of it. Keep on ignoring me to your heart's content."

"No, Rory. I'm afraid that is not acceptable," Straub sternly shook his head. "First, you look too much like a Hayden to hide the connection after Christopher and Lorelai make their relationship public. Second, we already know what we're getting with you as an heir. Technically, you're a good choice. You're smart, successful, attractive, well spoken and, from what I've heard, polite. If we wait for one of Chris and Lorelai's hypothetical children, we won't know what we're getting. And, truthfully, its unlikely that Francine and I will be around long enough to ensure that the child is raised properly. You're our best bet at this point."

Logan could see the Rory's mouth narrow into a hard line and anger flash in her eyes. He recognized the look from the early days of their acquaintance. Still, she managed to reign in her temper and sit quietly. Logan tried to catch her eye but she seemed to be studiously avoiding his gaze. Logan wondered why he and his father were invited here to witness this painful little family reunion.

Straub graciously filled him in a second later. "Now, making sure Rory is fully accepted into society is where the Huntzbergers come in. As Mitchum and I have discussed, Rory and Logan will become a couple and date for the next year." Logan's head snapped towards his father, unable to believe what he had just heard. "Logan and Rory will attend a designated number of society events per month and, after an appropriate length of time, the Huntzbergers will publicly accept Rory as Logan's serious girlfriend. That type of backing will go a long way to making Rory golden in society. Plus, her increased presence at society functions will make people more accepting of her as they get to know her."

"Of course, until Christopher and Lorelai's engagement is announced, Rory will continue to go by Gilmore and no one will be apprised of the fact that Rory is actually a Hayden. Also, Rory, we have you're original birth certificate, so when the engagement is announced, I will replace your current birth certificate with the original so you will officially be a Hayden. You will have to start going by Hayden, but don't worry, I'll take care of all of the necessary paperwork to make sure that your name change is legal."

Logan took this opportunity to turn to his father and demand, "Exactly when were you going to tell me that you were now going to run my personal life as well as everything else? Exactly what are _you_ getting out of this?" Logan was too angry to realize that his words might further hurt Rory.

"Logan, calm down," Mitchum demanded, somewhat sarcastically. "It's no secret that your reputation is absolutely atrocious when it comes to women. It's getting to the point that some mothers are warning their daughters away from you instead of trying to set you up with them. Of course, I could really care less about that. What I _do_ care about is the fact that you're twenty-two and still a junior. I care about the fact that the board of directors of HPG is refusing to take you seriously and is fighting me on my plans to integrate you into the company. It's time for you to straighten up and start taking school seriously." Logan sat quietly, listening to his father's accusations. He was used to his father's tirades about his lack of responsibility and could usually care less. This time however, he felt slightly ashamed, having all of his shortcomings listed in front of Rory.

"Dating someone who is serious about school and has a reputation as a rule follower and a parent pleaser is going to make it look like you've calmed down, like you've found a reason to take life a little more seriously. Now, I don't want to hear any complaints about this. You've brought this on yourself." Mitchum finished his little rant and turned back towards Straub.

"Speaking of spotless reputations, what exactly did you mention on the phone about one of Rory's ex-boyfriends causing problems?"

"Oh, well, that's a bit of a sticky situation," Straub admitted. Logan looked again at Rory, trying to catch her eye. She had never indicated that she was having any problems.

"Rory has historically had very bad taste in men and I'm afraid its coming back to haunt her. One of her ex-boyfriends, Dean I believe, has apparently left his wife to pursue Rory and is causing some problems. Of course, I completely agree with Richard and Emily that we can't possibly file for a restraining order without drawing unwanted attention to this matter. It's one of the few things we've agreed on in the last twenty years. Without any extra attention, we can easily keep this under the radar since neither this Dean nor his wife are part of society. The last thing we want is for Rory to be seen as some kind of home wrecker."

"I didn't do anything wrong. I haven't encouraged Dean at all! I've told him to leave me alone," Rory defended herself. For the first time since he had met her, he could hear the edge of tears in her voice.

"If you're not doing anything to encourage him, why is he still a problem, Rory? Why did you and your mother approach Emily and Richard about obtaining a restraining order against the boy?" Straub demanded, apparently accusing Rory of carrying on an affair with a married man.

"I swear I didn't do anything wrong. It's just that…I'm scared of him," Rory whispered the last part almost inaudibly, looking back at her hands in her lap.

Logan was staring hard at Rory. He was having a hard time processing everything he had learned that night and he was still fuming at his father for coming up with this ridiculous invasion of his privacy. It was almost unbelievable to him that Rory Gilmore, with her innocent blue eyes, had somehow broken up a marriage. He started as a memory flooded back to him. He remembered Rory brushing off his questions about the bruises on her arms the night of her meat market party. Rory had been upset but refused to tell him why and had insisted that she merely bruised easily. If he were honest with himself, that wasn't the only time he had noticed suspicious bruises on her body. He felt an impotent rage overcome him that he had never experienced before. He couldn't believe he hadn't been more persistent in making Rory tell him what was wrong.

"It's a moot point now, Rory. Now that you and Logan will be dating, he can make sure that you're never alone on campus at night and basically, that you're never in a position where this other boy can approach you. You should be fine." Straub seemed to brush off Rory's concerns.

"Now, I think that we need to talk about our expectations for you and Logan," Straub continued in a businesslike manner.

"Yes," Mitchum jumped in. "We originally thought that it would take a couple of months before you could make a believable couple. However, judging from your little discussion outside earlier, it seems that you two already know each other?" Mitchum didn't wait for an answer. "If you two are already acquainted, I think that we can definitely move up the time line, don't you think, Straub?"

"Of course. The sooner, the better. And, Rory and Logan, you two should remember that the year time period doesn't start until you are holding yourself out as an official couple," Straub agreed.

"What makes you think that you can force us to do this?" Rory asked in a quiet voice. She sounded less defiant and more scared of what Straub would come up with. Logan wondered exactly what Mitchum had in mind for motivation but assumed it was the usual threats. Promising to cut Logan off was something that Mitchum rarely threatened and Logan was too scared to test his father's resolve when Mitchum went so far as to vow to leave Logan in poverty if he didn't bend to Mithcum's will.

"Maybe we should discuss this separately," Straub cleared his throat, pushing back his chair. "Mitchum, feel free to use my study, you know where it is. Christopher, Rory, and I will be in the drawing room. Francine, feel free to go to bed." Logan watched, a little amazed as Francine rose from the table and headed towards the stairs without making a sound. He had never seen a woman more under her husband's thumb.

Mitchum rose without a word and gestured for Logan to follow him. Logan pushed back his chair and cast one more glance at Rory to see how she was holding up. She was also rising to follow her father and grandfather. She was keeping her eyes mostly downcast but she did throw a quick apologetic look towards Logan. He thought she looked absolutely miserable.

"Ok, Logan, let's not beat around the bush here," Mitchum began as soon as Logan closed the study door behind him. "I know that this is a little extreme, but it's come to my attention that your current situation is a little extreme. If we don't turn around your reputation soon, I don't know if it's going to be salvageable. Of course, HPG is my company and I have the ultimate say in what happens. The problem is, if no one has faith in you…if no one trusts you, there's no way you're going to be able to effectively run this company when it's time for you to take over."

Logan waited impatiently for his father to get to the bottom line. He was used to his father's love of long-winded lectures.

"This is important, Logan. As such, the consequences if you fail to follow through are serious. If you refuse to date Rory, or if you fail to comport yourself in a manner befitting a respectable boyfriend, you'll be completely cut off, excepting your tuition payments for Yale. I realize that you're trust fund kicks in at twenty-five, but that is over two and a half years from now and I don't think you really want to find out how the other half lives."

"Dad, I've never even come close to being a boyfriend before. I honestly don't know if I can do this. I've never been monogamous before," Logan complained, running his hand through his hair and pacing. He wasn't used to admitting to Mitchum that he doubted his ability to accomplish something.

"Logan," Mitchum chuckled a little, putting a hand on Logan's shoulder to stop his pacing. "No one's expecting you to be _faithful_ to that girl. You just need to start being a hole hell of a lot more discreet about your little trysts."

Logan refrained from rolling his eyes. Of course, his father wouldn't expect him to be faithful. It's not like Mitchum was known for his own fidelity. Logan changed tactics quickly.

"I don't know about these mandatory society functions. I think we should limit those to once every two months. I think anything more is over kill for people our age."

"We may be able to cut the obligations down to once a month, but not less than that," Mitchum countered. "Remember, Straub needs Rory to be in the public eye in a positive light as much as possible. By the way, that means you need to keep your drunken antics to a minimum. It's fine for you to be seen as slightly…rowdy. You are still a young man, after all. But you need to make sure that Rory's reputation remains pretty demure. Don't draw her into any of your stupid stunts."

"Ok," Logan nodded his head once, running out of arguments that he could use to derail the plan. He did really like Rory and had contemplated doing the whole boyfriend thing for her but had discarded the notion as something he didn't really think he would succeed at. Now, being forced into the situation, he liked it even less. However, he guessed if he was going to be forced into a fake relationship, he wanted Rory to be his partner in crime.

"And Logan," Mitchum, who had been walking out of the room, paused at the door. "Don't screw this up. Straub is a son of a bitch and I hate him, but we need this almost as much as he does, and he can cause some serious problems for us."

Logan nodded his understanding, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "Listen, I think I'm going to try to talk to Rory for a little while. Figure out how we're going to work this. I'm guessing dinner is over?"

"Yes, I think it's safe to say that dinner is over. I'm going to say my goodbyes to Straub and then head home. You work things out with Rory. I'll call in a week to get an update on the situation. Goodbye, son." Mitchum disappeared from the study, leaving Logan to determine exactly how he was going to approach Rory. He couldn't help but remember their last encounter and wonder exactly how hard Rory was fighting this little union.

_Logan had been driving himself crazy with thoughts of Rory. He had been spending more time with her lately than he had ever spent with one of his conquests. His interest in her had also lasted longer than with any other girl. He wondered if it was because they hadn't slept together yet. Usually girls were more than willing to jump into bed with him and his interest in them usually lasted a week, two at the most._

_ Initially he had thought that Rory was beautiful and intriguing with her temper and her apparent lack of interest in him. He had been hesitant to pursue anything with her, however. She seemed like she would be way too much work, too much effort for too little of a return. However, no amount of rationalization had been able to keep him from kissing her after their jump at the Life and Death Brigade event. She had been radiant with adrenaline and her eyes had been sparkling and wide, looking at him with wonder. He had kissed her and had been shocked at how much that simple kiss had affected him. He had wanted to drag her to his tent and find out if everything with her would be as electrifying and just as _different_ as the kiss was._

_ He had managed to refrain from jumping her after that, but only barely. Whenever he saw her around campus he couldn't refrain from talking to her and touching her in some way. He had received more than one nasty look from one of his dates when he left them momentarily to go blatantly flirt with Rory. When he had persuaded Collin and Finn to attend the Gilmore's party specifically for an excuse to hang out with her, he couldn't deny that he wanted Rory and wasn't going to stop himself any longer. _

_He had been more careful in his seduction of Rory than he was with other girls. She seemed more innocent than the other girls he had pursued, like she wasn't in the habit of sleeping with boys that weren't her boyfriend. He would be lying if he said he hadn't been disappointed when Rory had informed him that he wasn't going to be sleeping with her that night, but he was more than happy to engage in other activities. He hadn't been exactly sure what to expect from her and was completely shocked when she dropped to her knees in front of him without any prodding. He knew he was completely hooked on Rory Gilmore when she had looked up at him with her huge, innocent blue eyes, his cock in hand, and asked him to tell her what he wanted. Something about the combination of innocence and wantonness had driven him wild._

_ Since that night he had been seeking her out more and more often. He had been worried that she was going to start expecting more from him, expecting him to be her boyfriend or to stop seeing other girls. In an attempt to discourage her from any such notions, he was careful to avoid certain boyfriend-like activities, such as asking her out on one-on-one dates or calling her. No, he was much more likely to figure out an elaborate plan to run in to her on campus than he was to call her and ask her to meet him at the pub. _

_ He had panicked one time when Rory saw him making out with another girl at the pub and had broken down and asked her if she was mad. She had surprised him by insisting that she didn't care what he did with other girls as long as he refrained from doing it with other girls while he was with her. He had been relieved but couldn't help the niggling doubt in the back of his mind that she wasn't really being truthful. There was no doubt in his mind that Rory was a girlfriend girl and she would eventually expect more from him. He was almost positive that if he ever did have sex with her, he would have to be clear that he wasn't boyfriend material, that he couldn't offer her anything more than he was already giving._

_ Despite his doubts about his ability to commit to her, he had never doubted that she was a one guy type of girl. He had been fairly confident that Rory wasn't seeing anyone else and that she wouldn't even consider dating someone else. He truly believed it, that was, until he spotted her flirting with his traitorous friend Robert by Rory's favorite coffee cart. He had watched while Rory laughed at something Robert said and he felt a very uneasy feeling creep over him. He had never been jealous of anyone before but he had a suspicion that this might be what it felt like. At that moment he had an overwhelming need to stake some kind of claim on Rory; let everyone know that she was off limits._

_ That's how he found himself, at this moment, standing outside of Professor Bell's class, along with Collin and Finn, preparing to make a complete idiot out of himself and possibly embarrass Rory. Of course, he was no stranger to making a fool of himself, but he had an uncomfortable feeling that this was the equivalent to pissing in a circle around Rory and that she might not appreciate it. He calmed himself with the thought that he had a completely believable back up excuse for his actions. Rory was hosting some poor girl from her high school and was, by all accounts, boring her to death. This little show was as much to liven up the girl's visit as anything else. Yeah, he was pretty sure that sounded believable._

_ "Ok, you guys ready? You know the plan?" He asked a little nervously. He was staring through the window at Rory instead of looking at his friends._

_ "Of course we know that plan, Mate," Finn scoffed. "What's your problem? This is pretty low on the difficulty spectrum of stunts we've pulled before." _

_ Collin rolled his eyes, a mild look of disgust on his face. "Oh, come on, Finn. Logan is obviously nervous because he's gone all gooey for reporter girl in there. It's pathetic."_

_ "Like you can talk," Logan snapped, not denying his odd behavior regarding Rory. "Should I bring up your latest Stephanie induced craziness or do you want to back off?"_

_ "Logan," Finn began in mock horror. "You know we're not allowed to bring up the topic of Stephanie! That's completely off limits." Finn found endless amusement at the expense of his friends' love lives._

_ "Whatever," Logan brushed off. "Look, I think we better get in there. Ace's little visitor looks like she's about to fall asleep."_

_ Collin shot Logan one last glare before dramatically throwing the door open and approaching Rory to declare his undying love. Logan couldn't hear everything that was being said but he smirked at the shocked look on Rory's face. He heard Collin say something about leaving him in bed without a word and had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Rory would definitely not appreciate that little bit of information, fake as it was, being broadcast to her entire class._

_ "You better get in there, Mate. Collin sounds like he might actually be convincing reporter girl to give him a chance," Finn stated dryly. It was Logan's turn to shoot daggers at Finn before he took a deep breath and burst into the classroom._

_ "What are you doing, Collin? Rory loves me!" Logan angrily approached Collin, not looking at Rory._

_ "Stay out of this Logan! It's between me and Rory!" Collin insisted, also turning away from Rory._

_ "It's not my fault you couldn't keep her." Logan finally turned towards Rory. "Rory, tell him you love me."_

_ "Gentlemen, this is neither the time nor the place!" Professor Bell's indignant voice cut in. _

_ "Stay away from her!" Collin bellowed before lunging at Logan, beginning the fake fight portion of the act. As Logan felt Collin's fist jab into his stomach with much more force than necessary, Logan wondered exactly how fake this actually was. He really should have kept his thoughts about Stephanie to himself. He grabbed Collin and proceeded to throw him over the desk like they had planned. _

_ When they were safely behind the desk he hissed at Collin, "Some of those hits were a little hard, man."_

_ "Sorry," Collin smirked, still dolling out fake blows. "Heat of the moment, ya' know?"_

_ "If you don't stop this right now, I'll be forced to call security!" Professor Bell interjected, more irate than ever._

_ Directly on cue, Finn burst into the room in his ridiculous Bobbi uniform, blowing his whistle. He strode purposely behind the desk and grabbed Collin and Logan by their collars and yanked them up. _

_"This is disgraceful!" Finn admonished in a horrible British accent. Logan really thought he'd be a little better at a British accent, seeing as he was half way there with the Australian accent. "These men used to have self respect! These men used to have pride!" Logan noticed that he had completely given up on the British accent and was going full on Australian again._

_ "These men used to have balls!" Finn continued. Finn then turned slightly so that he was directly addressing Rory. "Rory Gilmore! Give them back their balls," he finished gravely. The entire room was laughing now, no longer worried that a real fight had broken out in their classroom. Logan noticed that the only person not smiling was Rory. Before he could further gauge her reaction, Finn dragged him out of the room by the collar._

_ "Well, Mates, I think that went rather well," Finn congratulated the group. "I'm also pretty sure that the red headed Sheila in the back was giving me the eye."_

_ Logan could still hear the class laughing and some applauding. "I think we should go in and take a bow. What do you think?" Collin and Finn both grinned and they re-entered the room, literally taking a bow. When they stood up, Finn dramatically pointed at Rory and winked, grinning like an idiot. Logan knew that Finn had taken a liking to Rory and looked at her as some kind of sister. He was just as protective of Rory as Logan was and had been more than happy to participate in this little shenanigan to warn the male population of Yale away from Rory. Logan was still grinning as he looked over at Rory and noticed that she was glaring at him. She had obviously not taken the joke in the light in which it (ostensibly) had been intended. He began to worry that his little joke had done a little more harm than he had anticipated._

_ Later that afternoon he sought out Rory to see exactly how bad he had pissed her off. He finally found her in the dining hall, which he thought was odd since it was a little early for dinner. He approached Rory from behind and was met with the star struck eyes of the high school girl, Anna he thought, that Rory was hosting._

_ "Hi, Logan," She greeted in a bubbly voice. Logan saw Rory's shoulders stiffen and he held in a sigh. "Do you want to join us?" He silently gave thanks for the young girl's complete obliviousness. _

_ He sat down and looked over at Rory, who was refusing to look back at him. "She's mad," he said addressing Anna. "She seems mad, doesn't she?"_

_ "She does seem a little mad," Anna agreed, still with a smile on her face._

_ "Hey, Ace, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked quietly, hoping Rory would give a little._

_ "Anna, why don't you go ahead to the fro-yo social?" Rory asked in a clipped voice, never looking at Logan._

_ "But, I just had ice cream for dinner," Anna protested, not wanting to miss the upcoming scene._

_ "That's the beauty of college," Rory assured her. "You can have ice cream any time you want."_

_ Anna nodded grudgingly. "Are you going to come, Logan?" she asked hopefully._

_ Logan took another look at Rory and answered truthfully, "I don't know how well I'm going to be walking here in a moment, Anna." Anna gave a small noise of understanding and hurried away from the table, leaving Logan to face an obviously pissed off Rory._

_ "Ace," Logan started in a conciliatory tone._

_ "I have no words," Rory started in an angry voice, still refusing to look at Logan._

_ "Ace, come on…" Logan began, only to be cut off by an angry rant._

_ "Wait, I found some words. Stupid, arrogant, selfish frat boy…butt-face miscreant!" Logan was a little shocked at the fury of Rory's tirade. After all, it was just a joke. He had to bite back a laugh at her last insult._

_ "Butt-face miscreant," Logan repeatedly incredulously, wincing. _

_ "Yes, Logan. You made me look like an idiot," Logan could tell that she was truly upset, maybe more so than he had anticipated._

_ "No," he reasoned. "I made _me_ look like an idiot."_

_ "The class was in an uproar for the rest of the period," Rory continued, completely ignoring Logan's attempts to justify himself. "We never got back to what we were originally talking about. It was a completely wasted class."_

_ "So, there'll be another class next week. It's not a big deal, Ace," Logan tried again._

_ "Professor Bell's class is only six weeks long. That's a week I'll never get back!"_

_ Logan couldn't believe he was about to do this, "If it's one on one time with Professor Bell you want, my father knows him. I'll get you some quality time with him."_

_ "You don't understand, Logan," Rory insisted. She had her arms crossed under her breasts and had the most adorable scowl across her face. "I know that you don't care about classes, or the paper, or school in general, but some people have to work hard to get here. I had to work hard to get here! You and me…nothing alike," she finished quietly._

_ Logan began to panic a little at Rory's words. It sounded like she was actually thinking about breaking things off with him. He tugged on Rory's hand, still clamped tightly in a fist under her chest. _

_ "Rory," he began in a serious tone. "I didn't mean to embarrass you." Rory finally looked at Logan and he could see that she had softened now that she had unleashed her angry rant. Her scowl turned into a pout that Logan found even more adorable._

_ "Anna thinks that Yale is just a big joke now," Rory threw in her last grievance. Logan couldn't help but crack a smile. He tugged on Rory's hand until her body was fully turned towards his. Seeing her bottom lip protruding slightly, he acted on instinct and leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled back and looked at her, noticing that she was still pouting but looking a lot more receptive. He leaned in to kiss her again and this time she responded. When he pulled back, she had a shy smile on her face. He realized that this is the first time he had kissed her in front of people, which would explain while she looked mildly embarrassed, a blush dusting her cheeks._

_ "Hey," he said, making her look up at him. "If Anna thinks that Yale is a joke after spending five minutes with you, she was always going to think that Yale was a big joke."_

_ Rory nodded, still trying to hang on to some of her anger. After what looked like a brief internal struggle, she looked up and gave him another shy smile. "Do you want to come to the fro-yo social?" She paused for a second, "Yes, I am aware of how incredibly stupid that sounded." Logan just smiled and pulled her up from her seat, entwining his fingers with hers._

_ When they arrived at the fro-yo social, however, Anna was nowhere to be found. Rory had panicked and Logan had agreed to help her. He even recruited Finn and Collin to help look for the missing girl. They had found her at a dorm party talking to some guys who were old enough to know better. Logan had glared menacingly at them while Rory dragged Anna out of the party after her. Logan couldn't help but smirk a little at how completely embarrassed poor Anna must be. He knew, however, that he was in no position to try to tone Rory down at the moment. Just as they were exiting the dorm, they saw campus police approaching, probably to bust the entire party. Rory had yelled at Anna for a little while, asking what would have happened if campus police had caught her and called her parents. She then took Anna back to her room and ordered that she stay there for the rest of the night._

_ "Can we maybe go back to your room for a little while?" Rory asked as she leaned against her closed dorm room door. "I just think I'm too angry to deal with her right now. Do you think it would be possible for me to retroactively fail high school if she had gotten busted by campus police?"_

_ "Hey, Ace, come on," Logan soothed as he pulled her in to a hug, swaying slightly in a comforting gesture. "Everything turned out alright. Anna is safe in your dorm and no one is the wiser." Rory leaned back and gave him an incredulous look. "I'm not saying she wasn't incredibly stupid to run off with those creepy guys, but we found her before anything bad happened. She's fine." Rory leaned back into him and nodded against his shoulder._

_ Logan loosened his embrace, keeping an arm around her shoulder as he began leading her to his dorm. "Thank you, Logan. Really," Rory began, looking up at him. "I really don't know if I would have found her without your help. You really came through."_

_ "So…" Logan started, glancing down at Rory to gauge her mood. "Does this mean I'm forgiven for my little stunt earlier today?"_

_ Rory gave a little smile as she looked up at him through her lashes. "I guess I'll forgive you this time. But seriously Logan, I don't like to be embarrassed like that in public. I like to kind of keep out of the spotlight."_

_ They had reached Logan's dorm and he was relieved to see he had it all to himself, Lanny having disappeared somewhere for the night according to his cryptic message on the whiteboard. As he was depositing his keys and wallet on the table by the door, Rory surprised him by pulling him into a passionate kiss._

_ "You really have forgiven me, huh?" Logan asked with a smirk. Rory just smiled at him and pulled him in for another kiss. Logan began to lead her toward his bedroom as they continued to kiss. Not that he was unhappy with her taking initiative, but he was surprised that she was being so forward. Once they were safely in his bedroom with the door closed, Rory moved her attention to his neck and began to push his jacket off of his shoulders._

_ "Hey, Ace," Logan tried. She just smiled at him and pulled her sweater over her head before continuing to remove Logan's clothes._

_ "Ace," Logan gently took Rory's shoulders and pushed her back slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy with the attention, but…uh…what exactly is gong on?"_

_ "I…I just want to know what it would be like," Rory stated quietly before moving back in to kiss him._

_ "What it would be like?" asked Logan, a little confused. "Wait, are you saying that you want to have sex with me?"_

_ Rory laughed a little and nodded her head, "Yeah, that's the idea." Logan grinned wickedly before pulling her in for another kiss, encircling her in his arms. Before he could fully lose himself in the moment, however, the little niggle of doubt made its way to the forefront of his mind._

_ "Wait, Rory," Rory pulled back and gave him a curious look._

_ "You called me Rory. You never call me Rory," she stated cautiously._

_ "I just want to…are you sure?" Logan asked. Rory just smiled again and leaned in to kiss him._

_ "Rory," Logan tried again, pushing her away so that he could look at her. "I want to be clear."_

_ "You want to be clear…good," Rory agreed, looking slightly confused._

_ "You're special," Logan began, a little unsure of how he was going to clearly tell Rory that he wasn't looking to be her boyfriend without somehow pissing her off._

_ "Like 'eat the paste' special?" Rory asked, a little unsure._

_ "No! No," Logan quickly assured her. "You're beautiful. And smart and funny. You're definitely girlfriend material." Rory looked at him strangely and went in for another kiss._

_ Logan stopped her again, "It's just that…I'm not so sure I'm boyfriend material. I just don't want you thinking that I can give you something that I can't."_

_ "Logan, I know what you're like, ok? I'm not expecting anything from you. It's just that…I like you. And I want to spend time with you. No strings attached."_

_ Logan felt a small twinge as Rory casually assured him that she never expected him to be able to be a boyfriend. He never thought a girl letting him off the hook would hurt quite so much. He allowed her to kiss him again for a minute before he pulled back again._

_ "It's just that…I'm afraid that that's what you think you want now, but you might change your mind in the future."_

_ Rory furrowed her brow at him. "Logan, I promise I just want to have some fun…stringless fun." Logan could hear uncertainty creeping into her voice. He leaned in to kiss her again but then stopped himself. He hated himself for not letting it go, but for some reason he couldn't._

_ "Seriously, Ace, have you thought about this? How are you going to feel after we've had sex and you see me with another girl? Because that's what it's going to be like." As soon as the words came out of his mouth he knew he was being too harsh. Even if Rory was aware of the situation he was sure that she didn't want him reminding her of the details right before they had sex for the first time. He sighed as he felt Rory pull away from him, crossing her arms under her breasts and looking away from him._

_ "Um…" she started, stooping to reach for her sweater. "Maybe you're right. Maybe this isn't such a good idea."_

_ "Rory," Logan called regretfully. "Come on, Rory. Don't leave like this."_

_ Having pulled her shirt back on, she answered while still refusing to look at him. "I'm not mad, or anything, Logan. I just think you're right…about the sex thing, I mean. Maybe that's a little too serious for me. I don't really know." She continued her ramble as she exited the bedroom and moved to leave his dorm room all together. _

_ "Ace, please," Logan tried to get her to stop without any success. He was met with the soft snick of the door closing. He leaned his forehead against his door and let regret wash over him. _

Logan had avoided Rory for about a week after that, completely unsure if Rory really wanted to leave that night or whether he had just pushed the issue too far, scaring her away. He tortured himself, trying to decide whether it would be better to just stay away from her and avoid the drama. Ultimately, he decided that he was too selfish to leave Rory alone. He had gotten used to being able to talk to her. He missed her quirky sense of humor and her ability to put him in a good mood, no matter what had happened that day. He also missed the way she made him feel when she was naked, curled against him in his bed.

Unfortunately, when he finally did decide to seek her out, he had found her talking seriously with a guy who looked suspiciously like Christopher Hayden. The longer he watched them to more convinced he became that she had some type of relationship with this man. Logan couldn't help but think it was ridiculous that Rory was with some guy who didn't even know how she took her coffee, judging from the fist full of condiments that he had handed her. He had walked quickly away, too angry to think straight. He had stayed angry for the rest of the week and had continued to avoid her. He hadn't seen her at all until they both showed up at the same disastrous dinner.

**A/N: Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate all of the reviews, follows, favorites and story alerts. I'm sorry that I'm so slow on updating. My sweet baby boy is two months old as of yesterday and I'm already back at work. Writing really tends to take a back seat these days. I am committed to finishing this story and I do have an outline for where it is going. It may just take me longer than I originally thought. I hope you liked seeing things from Logan's point of view!**


	4. Chapter 4

With thoughts of their last meeting running through his head, Logan approached the room where Straub had served them drinks earlier. He was pretty sure that is where he would find Rory. He hoped that Straub was done making whatever threats he was planning to make so that Rory would be alone. When he finally reached the entryway to the room, he saw that only Christopher and Rory were left in the room. He hung back so as not to disturb them. If he were honest, he was also curious as to what they would say to each other.

"Come on, Rore," Christopher sounded exasperated. "You know that there's nothing I can do about this. I hate my father just as much as you do, probably more, but I can't stop him when he gets like this."

"Dad, this is completely insane. You know that Mom would never approve of this," Rory sounded adamant, but there was also a hint of hopelessness in her voice.

"Rory," Christopher's voice was now deadly serious. "You can't tell your Mom about this. I'm serious. You heard Straub. There are serious consequences if you don't follow his rules."

"I know, Dad. I'm not going to tell Mom," Rory assured, again sounding so defeated. "I mean…this is just awful. Logan has already made it clear that he doesn't want to be my boyfriend and now we're stuck in some bizzarro relationship that's being monitored by our parents?"

Logan felt a twinge at Rory's words. He _had_ told her that he couldn't be her boyfriend. He felt his anger at the entire fucked up situation rising again. It felt so completely unfair to both of them.

"Hey, kiddo," Chris soothed, patting Rory's shoulder awkwardly. "Anyone who doesn't want to be your boyfriend is crazy. You're easily the most beautiful girl at Yale."

"You have to say that. You're my dad," Rory smiled slightly. Logan decided that now was an appropriate time to make his presence known, since it seemed that their conversation was winding down. He cleared his throat and stepped into the room.

"Hey, Rory. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second before you head out?" Logan said, a little uncertainly. He was trying hard to keep any anger or irritation out of his voice so Rory wouldn't think it was directed at her.

"Actually," Christopher cut it. "It would be a huge help to me if you could give Rory a ride back to Yale. I'm going to Stars Hollow tonight and Yale's not exactly on the way."

"Sure, of course I can give Rory a ride back," Logan looked at Rory and saw that she was looking a little uncomfortable. "If that's alright with you, Ace."

Rory looked at her dad and then back at Logan. "That would actually be great. I don't know if I can stand riding all the way back to Yale on the back of your bike. No offense, Dad."

"None taken. I guess it was kind of stupid to pick you up on my bike in the middle of the winter. Lorelai would actually be pretty mad if she knew that I did that," Christopher mused. "Why don't you go say goodbye to your grandfather before you leave?"

"You can say goodbye for me," Rory retorted bitterly.

"Fine. I'll talk to you later. Ok, kiddo?" Christopher asked and drew Rory into a hug before exiting the room, leaving Rory and Logan alone.

Rory and Logan looked at each other for an awkward second before Logan moved quickly and suddenly, drawing her into a rough kiss.

"What are you doing, Logan?" Rory asked, trying to extricate herself from Logan's grasp.

"Come on, Rory," Logan said, kissing her again. "I'm your boyfriend now, so this really shouldn't be a problem, right? You didn't want to have sex with me because I'm not your boyfriend and now I am. Problem solved." He wasn't really sure why he was doing this but he couldn't quell the urge to take Rory right now, to claim her on his own terms instead of those of his horrible father.

"Not here, Logan," Rory again stepped back, only to be met by the wall. "I'm not going to sleep with you in Straub and Francine's house."

"What better way to get back at them, huh?" Logan asked as he pushed her against wall and kissed her, biting her bottom lip.

"Logan, no!" Rory insisted with an edge of hysteria in her voice. Logan pulled back and looked at her. "You're angry and you're being rough."

Logan pulled back as if he had been slapped, ashamed at his actions. He felt all of the anger drain out of his body. "God, I'm sorry, Rory. You're absolutely right." He pulled her into a hug and kissed her temple. "Let's just go back to my dorm and try to figure this out, ok?" He felt Rory nod against his shoulder.

Once they were securely seated in Logan's car with Rory approved music playing quietly, Logan looked over at Rory and tried to begin what was sure to be a difficult conversation.

"Listen, Ace. I know that this isn't ideal…but it's really not that bad, right?" Rory looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "Oh, come on. At least we already know each other. We already know that we like each other and we know we're attracted to each other." Logan reasoned. "This could be a lot worse."

"Sure, Logan. I've always wanted to be forced into a relationship with someone who made it painfully clear that he doesn't want to date me." Rory's words were quiet, without the edge of sarcasm one would expect. Logan thought that made her words even more painful to hear.

"Ace…I didn't, I don't think that my little speech came out right that night." This was really completely uncharted territory for Logan. He usually avoided serious conversation with girls at all costs. "I wanted to keep on seeing you the way we already were. I've just never been a boyfriend before and I kind of panicked when it came to you. I didn't think I could be a boyfriend, and that's obviously what you deserve."

"So, what's changed now? All of a sudden you don't think it will be _that bad_," Rory asked, throwing his words back at him.

"What's changed is that I've been given incentive to really give this boyfriend thing a try," Logan began before he was cut off.

"Oh, so I'm not enough incentive for you? I didn't _ask _you to be a boyfriend, you know."

"What I was _trying _to say was that, now that I've been given the incentive, there's no one besides you that I'd rather try to be a boyfriend for." Logan emphasized his point by reaching over to take Rory's hand. He felt a little relief as Rory moved to entwine her fingers with his.

"How are we going to work this out, Logan?" Rory asked, sounding miserable. "No one's going to believe that you all of a sudden gave up your manwhore ways for me."

"Wow…manwhore. So that's what you really think of me."

"Come on, Logan. You know that manwhore is a pretty accurate description." Rory said pointedly.

"Fine. I may have been a little…promiscuous…in the past," Logan hedged. "But it's not going to be as hard as you think to convince people that we're a couple. I've already been way more into you than any other girl I've ever been with. The LDBers are already convinced that you have some kind of hold over me. I think that we can probably make it official after this weekend. You can spend the weekend with me and we can make it seem like we came to an understanding."

Rory nodded her head, unconsciously running her thumb over the back of Logan's hand. "I guess that could work."

They fell into silence for the rest of the ride. When he led her into his dorm room some time later, he was surprised to see Collin and Finn sitting on his couch, feet propped up and drinks in hand.

"Oi, Mate," Finn called when Logan and Rory entered. "This is the best prize you've ever brought back from a dinner with Mitchum." He rose and pulled a somewhat shell shocked Rory into a hug, giving her a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Rory returned Finn's hug and didn't look like she was going to let go. When she did, she turned to look uncertainly at Logan.

"Hey Collin, Finn," Logan greeted with a tired nod, walking over to the bar to make himself a drink. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, you usually need a little cheering up after an encounter with the Dark Lord," Collin started before throwing an apprising look at Rory. "I would say that you already found something to cheer you up but poor Rory here looks like she's been having an even worse night than you."

"You can say that again. Rory, why don't you sit down and I'll get you a drink, ok?" Rory nodded numbly and wandered to the loveseat without saying anything. She seemed willing to let Logan take the lead in dealing with his friends.

"Well," Logan began, pouring himself a healthy serving of Scotch. "It turns out that Rory was invited to the same dinner that I was." He noticed Rory shoot him a concerned glance as he downed half of his drink before continuing. "It turns out that little Rory Gilmore over here is actually also the daughter of Christopher Hayden."

"_Logan_!" Rory hissed, sounding alarmed.

Logan ignored her and continued. "And it seems that Straub Hayden and Mitchum Huntzberger have decided that Ace and I will be an official couple for the next year."

"Logan, we're not supposed to tell anyone!" Rory cried, panic making her voice climb to a higher register. Logan looked over, surprised by the desperation in her voice. She was clutching the arm of the loveseat tightly, her body tense. All of the color had drained out of her face and her eyes looked unnaturally bright. As he watched her, her breath started coming in short gasps.

"Love, are you alright," Finn asked with concern.

"No one's supposed …to know" Rory gasped out.

"Shit, Rory," Logan said, concerned. "It's ok. It's just Collin and Finn. They're not going to tell anyone." Logan had walked around to sit beside her and draw her into his arms. All three boys were looking at her with alarmed expressions on their faces, not sure what to do.

"Here, Love. I'll fix you a drink," Finn said, sure that alcohol could fix just about anything.

Rory seemed to be calming slowly, firmly wrapped in Logan's arms. He was thoroughly worried by Rory's reaction.

Finn touched Rory's shoulder and then pressed an orange concoction into her hand. "It's Captain Morgan's and Sunkist," Finn explained. "You'll love it. It tastes like orange candy." Rory nodded, her eyes still huge, and took a shaky sip of the drink.

"God, Ace. What did they threaten you with?" Logan asked with his brows drawn together. He looked over to see that Collin and Finn also looked equally concerned.

Rory looked over at Logan's two friends. "You promise that you won't tell anyone, right?" She proceeded to clarify instead of waiting for confirmation. "I mean, no one's supposed to know that I'm a Hayden – I mean no one. And, no one's supposed to know that Logan and I aren't a real couple."

Collin chuckled a little. "I'm pretty sure that you and Logan are as close to a real couple as Logan's ever gotten." Logan shot a death glare at Collin.

"Ace, Collin and Finn aren't going to tell anyone, right guys?" Collin and Finn both nodded their affirmation. "They're like my family, Rory. We tell each other everything and we keep each other's secrets. It's going to be fine."

Taking comfort in Logan's assurances, Rory just nodded. "Come on, Ace. Tell me what's going on here? What's with your reaction? What the hell did Straub say to you?" Rory took another sip of her drink and looked at Logan with a sheen of tears clouding her vision.

"Straub told me that if I didn't go along with the plan he'd ruin my mother," she started in a shaky voice. Logan narrowed his eyes at her, willing her to continue. "He knows all the right people, all the ways, to take away my mother's Inn. The Inn is the most important thing in my mother's life. She's worked so hard for it and she's so proud of it. She would be absolutely devastated if something happened to it."

"Wait," Collin asked incredulously. "You're telling me that Straub Hayden, a United States Supreme Court Justice, actually threatened to ruin your mother's business? That seems a tad risky for him, don't you think?"

Rory shook her head before continuing. "You don't understand. He'll do anything to protect his reputation. He threatened to take me away from Mom if we ever so much as breathed that I was a Hayden. Mom found out she was pregnant with me right around the time he got nominated for the bench and he couldn't risk the scandal. I've been pretty much terrified of slipping up and telling someone who my father is my entire life." Logan pulled Rory more securely into his side, shocked that her seemingly idyllic childhood might have actually been more fucked up than his.

"This drink really is good," Rory segued suddenly, breaking the silence that had engulfed the room.

"Of course it is, Love. I've never made a bad drink," Finn assured her smugly. Rory drank the rest of the drink in three long gulps and looked over at Logan. "Do you have some clothes I could change into?"

Logan took the glass out of her hand and nodded, "Sure. There are some sweat pants and t-shirts in the third drawer of my dresser. Help yourself." Rory nodded and rose to walk towards his room.

All three boys watched until Rory closed the door and then Collin and Finn turned towards Logan.

"Mate, this seems like some pretty heavy stuff," Finn started in a grave voice.

"I didn't know what they said to Rory to get her to agree. I never would have thought Straub would threaten to ruin a third party's life, but I guess he knows Rory's weak spots. You should have heard the things that bastard was saying during dinner. I really don't think there's any love lost there."

"I don't really get the point of this arranged dating scenario," Collin cut in, glancing towards the door to make sure that Rory wasn't coming back.

"According to Mitchum, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement," Logan explained sarcastically. "Rory gets the backing of the Huntzberger family in society before Chris and Lorelai's engagement is announced." Seeing Collin and Finn's raised eyebrows, he added, "Oh yeah, Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore are engaged about twenty-years after the fact. What Mitchum gets is the nice sheen of respectability that I will apparently gain by dating a someone who's a serious student with a spotless reputation." As Logan finished explaining, he made a mental note to ask Rory about this ex-boyfriend that was apparently causing problems.

"That actually makes a little bit of sense," Finn said, nodding her head. "I mean, it's a completely insane way to go about it but this is the way your bloody society works."

"I guess. I don't really know," sighed Logan. "I actually think we can probably work this out so that we're both pretty happy with the arrangement. I mean, we're already into each other, so that's not a problem. It's just that Rory's freaking out about this way more than I expected her to. I guess she's really scared of Straub."

Just then Rory re-entered the room and reclaimed her spot next to Logan, snuggling into him again.

"Listen, Love. I know that this has been a rough night for you and I think that you and Logan need a good old fashioned drunk," Finn proposed. "It will calm you down a little bit and give the four of us some time to figure out exactly how to approach breaking this little situation to the outside world. I mean, we're probably going have to set up some kind of security rotation to keep all of the irate girls away from you, Love." Finn grinned crookedly to let her know that he was joking.

Rory let out a shuddering sigh and nodded, "I think another one of those orange drinks would be a good idea."

Logan, Collin and Finn tried to make jokes about the situation for the next hour and a half while Rory remained completely silent. Logan watched her drink three more of Finn's orange concoctions and was getting a little worried about her sobriety level. She really never drank very much. Finally, a direct question from Collin brought Rory out of her silence.

"So, Rory, I don't really get it," Collin segued ungracefully. "It sounds like you've had to put up with a lot of the same bullshit as us. Why aren't you out rebelling and trying to piss off your parents like the rest of us?" Logan shot Collin a look for bringing the conversation around to more serious topic.

Rory looked up at Logan before answering Collin and he saw that she was blinking back tears and he worried that she was even more inebriated than he had thought. "My mom has always been really good to me. I don't have any reason to want to piss her off." Rory's voice was shaky and all three boys noted that she didn't mention her father.

"Oh, come on, Love," Finn prodded. "You're a little too perfect for your own good. That doesn't make sense even if you had a completely ideal childhood. Everyone rebels at some point." Logan was busy glaring at his two friends, silently willing them to back off.

"You don't understand," Rory said quietly, quickly wiping at her cheek. "I have to be perfect." Logan looked down at her, huddled into his side, looking small and unsure.

"No one expects you to be perfect, Ace," Logan assured her. "That's crazy. Besides, you're as close to perfect as any parent could ask for."

"No, I have to be perfect to make it worth it for them," Rory tried to explain, slurring her words slightly.

"Make it worth it for who, Love," Finn asked in the same gentle tone that Logan had used. Collin seemed to be the only one uninterested in saving Rory's feelings at this point.

"My parents. They gave up everything to have me and I have to be perfect so they don't regret it," Rory wiped a few more tears from her cheek and Logan could feel her shaking. "I can't mess up or they'll know that I wasn't worth it, that they should have gotten rid of me like everyone told them to."

"Rory, look at me," Logan demanded, shocked that his strong, independent, funny Ace had such deep insecurities; that anyone could make such a wonderful person feel like she was only one misstep away from being completely unloved. "From everything I've heard, your mom adores you. There's no way you could do something that would make her regret you."

"She gets so mad when I mess up," Rory lamented. "She _hates it_ when I have a boyfriend and she won't forgive me for Dean." She looked at Logan with big eyes. "I didn't do _anything wrong_ with Dean and she's still so mad at me. She won't let it go. She sent me to Europe with my grandmother all summer long as, like, punishment or something."

Logan looked at his two friends for help. Rory was obviously drunk and rambling a little, telling them things she probably hadn't meant to. He could see sympathy on Finn's face but Collin had a gleam in his eye that he got when he realized he had an advantage over someone.

"What about your father, Rory? It doesn't really sound like he gave up anything for you," Collin pushed relentlessly. Logan and Finn both glared at him.

"Of course he gave up something," Rory replied, looking incredulously at Collin. "He had to give up my mom. He has loved her for so long and he had to give her up because of me. He's so close to having her and there's a chance that everything's going to get messed up because of me. Again."

Logan shot a death glare at Collin before pulling Rory even closer and brushing her hair out of her face. "Come on Rory. You're dad loves you. I saw it tonight. He'd never regret you."

"No, I'm pretty sure he'd be happier if I didn't exist. Or at least if I had shown up about ten years after I did. He loves me, but only because I'm a package deal with my mom," Rory rambled on in her shaky voice. "When I was little, and he left for California, he came to say bye to Mom and didn't even ask to speak to me. I was eight, you know? I could hear them talking, and I knew he was leaving. I kept on waiting for him to come say goodbye to me but he never did. It's like he forgot I even existed."

"So, you used to see him when you were little?" Collin continued. He believed that information was currency in their society and one could never have enough of it. Even if it was information about your friends.

"Collin, you need to back off," Logan warned. "She's too drunk to know any better than to answer you."

"It's ok. You said that they're not going to tell anyone, right?" Rory asked, looking into Logan's eyes.

"Of course they're not," Logan said in a growl, directing his warning at Collin.

"I've never talked to anyone about my dad, you know? Because I'm not allowed to? And I can't say anything to Mom because she only sees the best in Dad. She's a little oblivious, ya' know?" Rory slurred. Logan could tell that she was starting to drift off, overwhelmed by stress and alcohol.

"He would come to visit every couple of months when I was little. He was at Princeton so I guess he could get away with out Straub finding out. My earliest memories of him are when he would come and he and Mom would leave me to go off on their own. I didn't know what they were doing then, but I have a better idea now." Rory's eyes were drooping with every word.

"Come on, Ace. I'm going to put you to bed," Logan said, awkwardly lifting her from the love seat and hoisting her into his arms, thankful that she wasn't completely dead weight yet. He took her to his bedroom and got her to stand up for a second so he could pull down the covers before placing her in the bed.

He knelt down beside her and looked into her bleary eyes. "Ace, I'll be back in a little bit, ok?" She nodded her head and burrowed deeper into the pillow.

"I'm sorry I'm so drunk, Logan," Rory apologized. "I didn't mean to be this drunk and I know I'm being stupid and weepy and a swear I'm not usually like this."

Logan sighed and ran a hand over her hair. "Hey, don't worry about it. If this is as bad as you get when you're upset and drunk, I'll take you over any of my other friends any day." She gave him a slight smile and closed her eyes, obviously exhausted.

Logan waited a few more seconds before standing and returning to the common room. "What the hell was that, Collin?" Logan demanded. "Since when do we pump our friends for information when they're drunk. She obviously never would have told us that stuff if she was sober."

"Oh, come on, Logan. Like you didn't want to know all that stuff," Collin scoffed. "Besides, she makes so much more sense now. She's not this well adjusted girl that sprung out of our environment by some stroke of luck. She's just as fucked up as we are. She just never got around to realizing that there's no way to please these people so the only thing left to do is to go out of your way to fuck up so at least you're giving them a justified reason to hate you." Logan looked closely at his friend after his impassioned speech. Collin was such an asshole most of the time that it was easy to forget that he had his own problems that he kept locked away.

"Actually, Mate, Collin's right. Some of the things we know about her make a lot of sense now," Finn chimed in, surprisingly sober for this time of night. "Although I agree with you that Collin was being an ass."

"What are you talking about, Finn? What makes sense now?" Logan asked.

"Well, that whole being a virgin until she met you thing makes sense," Finn tossed out casually.

Both Logan and Collin stared incredulously at Finn. "What are you talking about, virgin?" Logan managed to choke out.

"Oh come on, Mate. You had to figure that out the first time you slept with her." Finn continued.

"We haven't had sex," Logan stuttered a little. "If she was a virgin when I met her, she's still a virgin."

"Hold on," Collin demanded. "Logan Huntzberger, player extraordinaire, has been hung up on some girl he hasn't even had sex with? I never thought I'd see the day."

"What are you talking about, you've never had sex with her?" Finn asked suspiciously. "I've personally heard sounds coming out of your room while she was over that you wouldn't have been making if you were playing Parcheesi."

"We do other stuff," Logan started a little defensively before realizing that he was getting off topic. "How exactly do you have any idea whether she's a virgin or not?"

"You have so little faith in me, Mate," Finn shook his head sadly. "I actually did a little research on our girl in there when it became pretty apparent that we might be inviting her into the Life and Death Brigade. _Then_, when you went all moony eyed over her, I did a little more. There is a very interesting youtube video where she's outed as a virgin by one Paris Gellar on CSPAN."

"Ok, why would she be on CSPAN and how would you know that it would still be true, anyway?" Logan asked, thoroughly confused by trying to follow Finn's explanation.

"Well, it seems that during reporter girl's senior year at Chilton, she was selected, along with Paris Gellar, to make some kind of speech commemorating some kind of anniversary or something to that effect. Well, while they were giving the speech, Paris completely flipped out because she had just found out that she didn't get in to Harvard. She started this huge rant about how she was being punished because she had sex with her boyfriend. Then she turned to Rory and went on and on about how Rory would definitely get into Harvard because she was a huge virgin." Finn became very animated as he was telling his story. "Poor reporter girl was red as a beet. She had to drag Paris off the stage."

"Well, that's great that you found some nice dirt on Ace, but that was nearly a year and a half ago. How could you possibly know if she's still a virgin?" Logan asked. He really didn't like the way this was going.

"Ah, well. I asked around about our little reporter girl and it turns out that last year, the year we were gone, she barely even talked to a guy. I think she went on a total of two dates and one was someone her grandmother set her up with, so you know that didn't go anywhere." Finn seemed very proud of the information he had gathered. "I think that what you've got in there, is a certified cherry."

"No, I think you might be wrong," Logan countered. "Tonight Straub said something about her ex-boyfriend leaving his wife for Rory. People don't just leave their wives for someone they've never slept with, right?" Logan could hear how panicked he sounded.

"Oh my God," Collin said gleefully. "You'd rather she be a home wrecker than a virgin. Are you scared of virgins or something?"

"Shut up, Collin," Logan shot. He fidgeted for a second and then continued. "But, I mean, it seems pretty serious, right? To be someone's first time, I mean? I mean, shouldn't she wait and do it with someone who loves her?" He stopped his ramble and looked at his friends before admitting, "I've never…popped anyone's cherry before."

"Don't look at me," Collin declared, raising his hands, palms out. "I'm with you on this whole avoidance of virgins thing. I personally like someone with a little experience."

"You two are truly pathetic," Finn lamented. "Listen, Mate. It's not that big of a deal. Just remember that the first time's not going to be that great for her, but after that one time, everything's fine."

"How are you such an expert?" Logan wanted to know.

"I did have a couple of girlfriends in high school before I was sent off to that god forsaken boarding school where you two taught me the pleasures of anonymous sex," Finn explained.

"I still can't believe you haven't had sex with her yet," Finn continued incredulously. "You are not known for your restraint when it comes to the opposite sex, Mate. And you two have been hot and heavy for, like, two months."

"What can I say? She gives good head so I was willing to wait a little bit," Logan mentally cringed. He usually didn't have a problem sharing details with his friends but he somehow felt like he was betraying Rory by being so crude. "We almost did, one time. But I kind of scared her away. I kind of, maybe too bluntly, told her that it wouldn't change anything and I'd still be sleeping with other girls."

"That has to explain reporter girl's absence and your unbearable mood for the past couple of weeks," Collin surmised.

"Pretty much," Logan admitted.

"So, back on point," Finn said, leaning forward and clapping his hands. "Do you want some tips on sleeping with a first timer?"

"Shut up, Finn," Logan commanded. "I probably shouldn't have sex with her, anyway. Right? I mean, it's some kind of weird fake relationship so it would be weird if she lost her virginity to me."

"There are so many problems with that, Mate," Finn laughed. "First, what are _you_ going to do? Go without sex? You know that being in a relationship means you have to give up the other girls?"

"Not necessarily," Logan countered. "Mitchum told me I was just expected to be discreet."

"Ooh, I'd tread lightly if I were you, Logan," Collin suggested. "I doubt that Rory has the same kind of arrangement in mind."

"Plus, Mate, you two are already doing everything but. And you know that she wanted to have sex with you in the not so distant past," Finn reasoned. "I don't think you're going to be able to hold her off."

"By the way," Collin interjected, completely changing the subject. "Now that we know that her father is Christopher Hayden, we pretty much have to induct her into the LDB. I have it on good authority that he was in the 21 Club and you know how we like to get other club's legacies."

Logan blinked at Collin, still too absorbed in his worries about Rory's possible virginity and his course of action regarding said possible virginity to really take in another topic.

"Whatever," Logan said, rising from the loveseat somewhat unsteadily. "I think I'm going to go to bed. You two stay or go, whatever you want. I don't think Lanny's coming back tonight."

He entered his room, which was pitch black, and stripped to his boxers without turning on the light. He slipped under the covers and found Rory easily in the twin bed. He slung his arm around her and pulled her to his chest, spooning her. He had always hated sharing his bed with girls, but, since Rory came into the picture, he had enjoyed cuddling with her. He loved the feel of her soft skin and the smell of her hair as she pressed her warm body against his. He let himself enjoy the peaceful feeling of lying in bed with her and put all other worries out of his mind as he drifted off to sleep.


End file.
